Static red
by RococoSpade
Summary: "Shooting stars fade faster." Someone had said that to him a long time ago. Link still wasn't sure what they'd meant. Sheik/Link, male separate Sheik
1. Can we please cut the drama?

First of all, I think of Sheik as a separate male character. Perhaps one who took Zelda's spirit inside of him Yu-gi-oh style (think Malik living in Ryou's head for a while).

Though this story may have a different explanation…

Second, if you see something you don't like, just hit the back button or the little red X. 'swhat I do.

Static red is a redone, redressed Blood red. Regretfully, it is less light and probably just as overdone. -sigh-

Please enjoy~

_Summary: Shooting stars fade faster._

**_Disclaimer: I do not own Legend of Zelda or anything related. I am not making any profits from this fanfiction. I do not own Alice in Wonderland or the Divine Comedy. All work is fictional and not based on real people, any resemblance to them or copywrited works are entirely coincidental unless otherwise stated. _**

* * *

**Chapter 1: Can we please cut the drama? (I can see your red fingers.)**

The entertainment for the evening was abject misery.

Such a dramatic opening warrants an explanation, yes?

Of course…

Link was, indubitably, far out of his element. He stood inside a ballroom, one arm outstretched with the hand of a Lady resting upon it.

It should have been a soft, dainty touch, but it was in an uneasy way, curved over his arm like a plate of metal.

The hand of the Lady didn't look like it belonged to her.

She didn't speak much - afflicted by an illness of the throat, he was told. Her father required her presence at the ball lest Hyrule appear weakened.

Link was there as an honorary guest.

And, of course, he was Lady Zelda's escort - what made a kingdom appear more mighty than the Hero of Time standing together with the King's daughter, the final sage?

That was all well and good, and Link was happy to help, but Zelda was scary tonight.

She was tall, yes, but it seemed she had grown some since their lasting meeting, since she was easily his height.

Quieter, darker and somewhat surly - though that could be attributed to the bad-time feelings born from sickness - Zelda was simply not herself.

And Link was quite worried for his survival.

He tried to steer her towards a less crowded place - a moot point in the lively glitter of the party.

"Zelda… is there anything wrong?" He tried to murmur and speak over the noise at once - of course, it didn't really work.

Zelda inclined her head to hear him.

He repeated it.

She glanced up at him - were her eyes always that shade of blue…? - and opened her mouth to answer, when a loud greeting called over him.

"Oh, dear Lady!" They turned to regard the approaching noble, who smiled and bowed.

He looked a little like the happy-mask salesman.

Link shuddered.

Zelda let go of his arm and curtseyed before offering the customary hand to the gentleman, who kissed it in turn.

They exchanged the common courtesy - the man, of course, giving his name without needing Zelda's.

The noble turned his narrow eyes to Link, "And who is this, if I may ask, Milady?"

Zelda brought a hand up to brush her throat, soft, and gave him a faint smile before whispering - her voice was lost in the din of the party.

Link decided to do his job.

He stepped up, "I am Link, Sir." And bowed.

"Link of what?" The man demanded, before catching up. '_Oh_' and then a common continuation of it beginning with '_S_' bloomed over his taut features. "Oh… my… It is an, ehem, _honor_ to meet you, good sir. I apologize - it is simply that you are not quite as I had imagined you to be… Why do you not introduce yourself as the great hero?"

"Indeed, why not?" He saw Zelda mouth, turning an intense look on him from the corner of her eyes.

He smiled. "I get that rather often… I'm not a hero, sir - I only did what I had to."

This kind of humble politeness didn't agree with the man, who stared at him looking almost affronted.

Link really would have preferred to have been elsewhere.

He put out his hand for Zelda. Her grip on his arm sealed the deal - _and a few new bruises, I'll wager _- so he looked about the bustling party.

"Oh, my - look, Zelda, your father!" However the man may have felt about Link calling the King's daughter by name was erased when he realized the king may have been encroaching their air.

He turned to offer his salutations.

Link and Zelda disappeared into the crowd.

There was a balcony behind elegant white French windows, looking over the garden. They stepped out and Zelda immediately went to the edge, tossing her legs over the balustrade in a most unladylike, entirely graceful way.

Perhaps balcony was not the right word - it was more a tall fenced deck, built on solid stone. Zelda glanced over her shoulder at him then back to the night - he kept noticing little things, the way her face looked sharper and longer, the wiry strength she moved with.

She looked back at him and spoke in the whisper the ball had drowned in its gaudy grandeur, "Are you coming?"

He shook himself and nodded.

Feet touched the stone and she jumped, dress fluttering around her - landing looked like an unpleasant art rather than basic motion.

He followed, noting aloud her slippers would grow dirty.

The look she gave him told her not to worry about her slippers.

They moved across the garden to a shaded, hedged area. Behind one such hedge there was a curve of stone steps leading into a small path. They ducked to move through it and found themselves in a dark room after the first curve. It opened up so they could stand.

Dirtied slippers moved over the ancient stone as a cat, and Zelda knocked against a panel.

After a moment it knocked back to them, and slipped open. Zelda greeted them.

Link almost flew out of his skin.

He switched his gaze in rapid succession between them, the elegant one in a fine muddied gown, crossing her arms with her feet wide apart, and the clean simply-clothed one with her hands and feet together.

Staring at him now, she was the height Link remembered.

"I did this for you - now you will do this for me." A soft voice echoed around them, unyielding and assured.

Zelda looked back to the taller her, mouth forming an 'o'. She nodded and stepped away so they could enter.

"I'm sorry; I simply wasn't expecting you to…" The passive Lady remarked, nodding to Link.

The one he'd been with all this evening grunted. "I didn't expect he'd be the one. You should have mentioned it to me."

Link, true to his nature, was polite and quiet while they lost him.

Passive Zelda gestured towards a couch. "Please sit, Link." She asked of him, and he obliged. Hands clasped firmly in his lap, he again switched his gaze between the duality.

Confrontational Zelda moved off to the side with nary a word or glance, disappearing behind a screen.

The earth-spattered gown was tossed without ceremony over the top.

Link did not gape, (though he really, really wanted to) because that was impolite.

Sweeter Zelda smiled at him, shrugging at his stare of confusion while clothes rustled and then water splashed.

A ring echoed around them, the sound of magic as it dispersed.

Confrontational Zelda had disappeared and in warped parody of his memory, Sheik stood in her place. He regarded the room with a dark vindictiveness and crossed his arms. Homing in on Link, he spoke, "Would you like to start, Zelda, or shall I?"

She sighed. "It is your story, Sheik. I am only here to verify."

He turned his tight stare to her a moment before looking back to Link. His face was covered again…

"Enjoyed the party, hero?"

Terse non-sequiturs weren't the best opening to a story, Link thought. "… I wouldn't say 'enjoyed'…" He trailed off, adding in a fainter tone. "It was a lovely party,"

"Too crowded?" Sheik asked in a surprisingly sympathetic voice.

Link was rolling along with all this rather well. He nodded, "And too gentle."

Sheik glanced back to Zelda, then asked something strange, "Do you know who I am?"

The desire to shout 'a liar' was strong, but he resisted. "You're Sheik."

"No." Not-Sheik replied curtly. "I am nameless."

Zelda sighed and looked away.

"Because my father would not name me, and my mother died before she could." He continued his story, crossing his arms. "I am Zelda's protector."

"Sheik…" She cut in, giving him a sympathetic stare. "I told you we could…"

"No."

"Sheik…"

"I am doing it now. Past is past." He turned back to Link, who _should_ have been wondering why Sheik was telling him this but really was more interested in what happened next. "She died when I was very young, younger than you were when you went to sleep in the Temple of Time.

"I was born to protect Zelda." Then, in a softer tone, "If it weren't for Lady Zelda's birth, I would not exist at all…"

Zelda coughed, "Sheik traded places with me. He… did many things in the war for my sake. And your's, Link."

"I was told to deceive you by both Ganondorf and Impa." Sheik paused and sighed. "You weren't supposed to know that I was a separate person - no one is."

"Then why'd you tell me?" Link demanded, bewildered.

A moment later, he got the idea that Sheik was smiling from the way his brow curved. "Because I did not want you to believe your guide was a lie. And… to say sorry. I did many things to hinder your journey. They were not Zelda's doing."

He bowed his head, hair falling to hide him.

Link stared. "If you were ordered, it's not your fault." He pointed out in simple disbelief.

Head coming back up, Sheik stared at him as though he were the confused one.

Then he and Zelda exchanged a look, Zelda's something akin to _I told you so_, or so Link thought.

"… I'm glad you're you." Link told Sheik minutes later, tilting his head. "… no offense meant to you, Zelda."

She smiled and rolled her shoulders.

The Sheikah sighed and shook his head, falling back against the wall. A soft thumb reverberated through the room.

"You are a kind person." He murmured in an absent voice, closing his eyes and tilting his face to the ceiling.

"So why were you dressed as Zelda?" Link asked, relaxing as much as he could - not much. He was still inside the castle, where overdone was the style rather than the exception.

Sheik sniffed and refused to look at him.

"I asked him to." Zelda spoke up, settling in a chair against the other wall. "I really am sick."

"Oh… how did you do it?"

"Simple illusion. Which reminds me - Zelda, thank both our lucky stars that Impa was entertained by this evening's fiasco, because she _knew_."

Zelda coughed then chuckled. "I see." Turning her gaze to Link, she added, "Thank you for escorting him."

Sheik twitched again.

Link felt his cheeks heat up and his ears prick in embarrassment. His arms came up to cover his head.

Someone clicked their tongue while he hid.

"Zelda." As he mumbled, full of embarrassment, he brought his arms back down. "That's not funny."

The third of their trine concurred.

Maybe too much.

His fingers flicked out -_flashed- _and let metal fly.

Link jumped.

The needle stuck in the cushion behind him, spearing the small skulltula. He hadn't even noticed…

Staring made him shudder. "… thanks." The stricken hero mumbled, examining the venomous beastie and the sizable needle jutting from it. (It was more a narrow bolt.)

Stunned only a moment, the suffering registered and it _shrieked_. Loud, high screams echoed from the skulltula.

Convulsing legs splaying every which way, scrabbling against _shredding into_ the upholdstry it kept _shrieking, _struggling at the metal with its death throes.

Sheik leant forward, staring at it wide-eyed, fingers digging into his arms until they left little red crescents. Link scrabbled for something to put it out with.

Zelda's shoe came down firmly on it a moment later.

She pulled back, letting go of her bunched skirt, and gave a sheepish look to Link.

He blinked back up at her and grimaced.

Clattering rung out.

"Sheik?" It looked as though… he'd had taken off down the stone corridor.

"I should go look for him." Zelda mumbled.

Link glanced at her. "Meet you at the stables?"

Five minutes later he sifte form foot to foot waiting because Zelda stayed behind to change.

Pursuit had him disappearing down the hidden path.

Epona pawed the ground and whinnied her impatience, leaving Link feeling well in-tune with the temperamental mare.

Zelda came out the stables minutes later on a young gelding, calling to him, "We should check Kakariko."

Who knew Sheik better? He took her at her word and they took off.

The way up to the village was quiet - the moon hung overhead, dizzyingly great and glowing white. It cast black shadows with its pure beauty.

They left their horses tied at the gates and entered the town. No one was outside, the lights all blown out - of course, everyone slept. It was so late…

"I'll check the inn." She called to him.

Link nodded and took off to his own destination - the graveyard, bleached under the looming lunar…

Graves lined up beside graves - of course, it was all in the name. Ancient air compelled him to silence his steps and smother his breath.

Absent of life and death, the graveyard stood in unusual eerie twilight. A state of no existence.

Above the moon, perhaps affected by the solemn air, hid itself behind thick clouds. Light was blotted out. Faint fire bolts echoed from inside the shadow temple.

He moved for the cliff below the entrance.

The moon flashed through a gap in the clouds and bore for only his eyes silver-blond just beyond where the shadow had reached. "Sheik!" Words went echoing and shattered in the darkness.

Sheik turned to him, too-bright eyes ripping apart the night and everything else in the world.

Link felt his stomach twist.

_Night bleaches everything. Why can I see the red…?_

Head cocked, Sheik regarded him. "Hero." He greeted softly, almost-sweet.

Link almost stepped back. His senses were _screaming_ at him, but what he couldn't say… "… Sheik." Forcing words that felt like daggers, he tightened his fists, "Why do I smell blood?"

"Because something is bleeding." Sheik replied simply, turning to step towards him.

Link wouldn't let himself take that step back. "You mean you? There's no one else here…"

"Perhaps not anymore." Sheik replied quietly, stepping right up to him to meet his stare.

Link swallowed. "Are you okay?" He demanded, looking over what he could see. One hand was bloodied.

Two fingers caught on his chin. "I'm fine." Sheik murmured so softly he tilted his head to hear.

One hand came up and settled on his chest - strong fingers pressed into his collar bone - and Sheik lowered his head to the crook of his neck, other hand drifting up to his cowl. "You, on the other hand, have done something very detrimental to good health."

"_Wha-_" He tried to writhe away and hit a tombstone - Sheik's hand slammed to the sides of the tall Celtic cross and jailed him.

Teeth brushed his neck, ever-so-gently, and scraped against the flesh.

"If I bit you, you'd die." Sheik murmured to him.

"Why would you bite me?" His voice shook - really, all of him shook. Breathing wouldn't come easy…

"Because I am hungry." Too-serene and assured. A perversion of the tones he was used to…

There was a terrifying quality to the melodic voice, more suited to singing than screaming… Link wondered if it'd always been there.

"I could kill you, right now. It does not matter that you are the hero or that you are a Hylian, or that I am just a faded shadow."

_Is this how he was in the war? When he worked for Ganon… _This really wasn't a time to wonder. "Yes, you could." He mumbled. "But what good would it do?"

Sheik laughed against his neck - it sent thrills through him, the hot breath and the deprecating voice. "None. Such is the beauty of senseless slaughter. Never needing a reason or purpose."

"That is very cold, Sheik." His voice barely passed between them.

Sheik pulled back, one hand coming free so he could rest his forearm against the icy stone.

He flashed a too-sharp smirk at Link.

"What-?" He sucked in a gasp, wide eyes fixed on fire-lit points.

"I told you I was hungry." It was murmured in a laughing tone. Letting his temple rest on his fist, Sheik chuckled. His mouth was beside Link's ear, then. "Close your mouth before I do."

Another shuddered ripped though him.

"You're not…" He struggled for the word, remembering the shattered-bone canines.

"Hylian?" Sheik guessed easily, swaying a little. The moon refused to show the entirety of its face for the two in the midnight shadows, but Sheik's eyes lit up in the dark.

"No." Link tried to lean away.

"Of course not - I am a Sheikah." Red eyes narrowed while he tutted. "I know I've told you before."

"And those fangs? Because they are fangs…" Link mumbled, eyeing up the canines and understanding how a rabbit before a wolf's gaze felt.

Another chuckle reverberated in the still air, falling between them. "You know, there are many reasons I cover my face, Hero."

Link glanced to the empty yard.

"And how fortunate for you, you found one." Sheik pressed his nose to his neck and inhaled.

Link felt his heart catch and skip.

His gaze caught the moon, who hid itself away again.

No one was coming to help him-

Nails raked against the stone. He swore softly.

- Why would he need help, when it was Sheik?

"Shouldn't you know better than to walk around graves at night?" Was hissed at him, sudden and welcome. Sheik gnashed his teeth at him like he was the one at fault, recoiling so they didn't touch.

His head whipped away and he gave Link a furious snarl. "_Do you want to die?_"

It made him flinch.

Life was new motion, struggling against the stone and the devil and wriggling free, stumbling back from long fingers.

In those seconds, Sheik pressed his shoulder into the grave marker and smiled at him between chunks of blond, calm and sweet again.

"You should probably run. In a moment…" He trailed off and flashed his fangs to the maltreated hero. "Because I really am hungry."

Link believed him.

He ran.

* * *

Feet pounding the dirt - flashing past Zelda, unseeing, while she frowned in passing and called out - he kept moving, leaping the stairs and almost snapping his neck in a blind fury, untying Epona in flurries of clumsy motion, leaping onto her back and taking off for anywhere but there.

The bloodless-bone moon showed itself again to laugh.

* * *

AN: … Oh, Sheik baby, you're not a faded shadow - you're a faded moon.

The creepy guy is a baronet. That's why Link calls him sir.

Zelda is called Lady because, based on Link's clothes and the general time set of fantasy fiction, they are in the 1300s and Princess wasn't made a term until the 1400s. And only recently has it come to mean the daughter of a king/queen (originally it meant a woman married to a prince. The royal daughters were referred to as Ladies.)

Sorry for the dramatic exit. Seems the melodrama around here (where I live) is rubbing off on me.


	2. Skeletons

**Chapter 2: No one keeps skeletons in their closets when they can leave them lying in their beds.**

_This is stupid. _

He really couldn't get a grip on his own feelings.

He'd faced down an evil overlord and saved the world. He'd killed many, many redeads - and those were, without a doubt, far scarier than …

… than…

… damn it, he wasn't go to think about this now.

He stepped into the dark temple.

It was the next day, to put out subtlety.

They'd run well into the evanescing night before he could bear the idea of not moving, and crashed under a tree like corpses.

The next morning, predictably, he analyzed the night before. And firmly concluded that he was stupid.

It was _Sheik_.

While the idea of fiends was pretty mundane in and of itself having had, as mentioned, fought all manner of unsettling abominations and beasts before, the idea of Sheik _being_ one kind of threw him.

_Stupid Sheik. _

But Sheik was Sheik.

… right?

It came naturally to check the graveyard first, the places around it… he found the torches inside the Shadow temple lit. Glaring at the darkness did nothing, and he wondered why he'd refused Navi's company.

He pulled out a pack of matches and lit one up.

Minimal, flicking yellow led his feet down the stone path

The lens of truth revealed only the unfaltering dark. It brushed against his skin and the weak flame with soft black fingers.

Nothing to rip at him, stalk him, destroy him, the temple felt worse than before.

The barrenness was something he was growing to hate - the town, the graveyard and now the this - but the hatred nestled close to something greater; a fresh theory that the living fled from death.

Rather, even monsters ran from Sheik.

Around him whispers faded in and out - the hissing cacophony of darkness's center.

He'd stepped into Pandemonium - a devil's temple.

His little match light dwindled and flickered.

"This is where all the bad feelings fester."

He looked up.

Red eyes glazed in dispassion gazed back.

"They all come here." Sheik leaned back on his hands, long legs hanging over the stone of the ingress. "The hatred, the sadness, the suffering… The walls soak it up and the souls feed off it. They love it, you know."

Link felt the dwindling match burn his fingers.

It fell to the floor and shattered with the flame.

Light snuffed out, shadows rushed with glee to take him.

Darkness was equality incarnate, true darkness - in it, everything disappeared, even so-strange red.

Sheik didn't speak - for all Link knew he didn't move.

In the artificial night he stood and should have been afraid, and _hated_ it.

_Feel something. Show me you're you. _

_This is how you always are… and why that is stranger to me than fresh expression… _

… _I don't have the answer._

All of it was more than he could handle. The feeling of ice on his skin and the dark blindfolding him, the soft silence and the smell of stagnation…

Too far lost without the little flame, emptiness closing in on him… he ran. Wasn't it natural that he ran?

With his heart pounding in his throat and his fists clenched and footsteps pounding in his ears and foggy ice choking him…

He rushed for the faint torchlight in the entrance and quivered when it touched him, running over his face.

Exploding from the blackness into the heady scent of night blooms just-opened, he kept running.

Between the graves and the world beyond death.

Coughs racked his body and he faltered, slamming into the unforgiving dirt.

He skidded and rolled through it, groaning at the fresh aches. Looking up, he saw just an empty landscape.

No monster.

No fangs…

He put a hand to his knee and rubbed the scrape. The should-be red oozed black under the moonlight.

Breath came heavy and sharp in the night air. He pushed to his feet and taped himself together. "I'm an idiot." Was sworn to the moon.

Running on a mountain's base - in the dark. Really, he could only get better.

He looked up at the sky.

_Shooting stars are pretty… but so dim… and then they fade…_

_Static stars are so much brighter. _

To move and shine and fade.

Or to stay the same forever? Unmoving, unchanging… Unfading…

And then, of course there was the matter of supernovas.

(And with them black holes.)

He glanced around the dark terrain.

Sheik's image lingered in his mind. Blood rose unbidden to his cheeks, shame burned in his belly, and he hated himself.

Somehow, he considered, he'd tossed himself out onto the face of this cliff - chasing after Sheik, a poor habit he'd never quite learned to kick.

And the one time the Sheikah was caught he flashed fangs, white as the moon, and again stole into the light while he fell to weakness.

Without purpose he was nothing. And without reason to be brave he was a coward.

While he was out here on the proverbial precipice, he realized why people hated duality (it just made things so damn complicated).

Sheik's face, again, cropped up in front of his closed eyes, smiling sharp and bitter and a little bit tired.

So this was the big secret.

_Change is inevitable. _

_Crossroads don't define what stands in front of you. _

_Rather, a spider web of cracks, different paths…_

"And a sign reading 'good luck'."

He snorted, pulling his knees up to his chest and tucking his head down. "Mmm… my resolve, where did it go?"

_You tell me. _

He flinched and tried to tuck his head lower. Apparently the dark raised rarer shadows tonight.

_Funny_, he mused, '_could've sworn it was late summer, not early spring…_

Sometime before, in between the water temple and the one of shadow, a lingering bit of darkness had clung to him and grew a festering conscious. It haunted him some nights.

He liked to think of it as a parasite - understand he liked to think of it as one might like a headache over a dog bite.

The mentioned shadow laughed and danced about him, hands behind its back.

_Come, come on, you can tell me- can't you? After all, you must know yourself._

_Oh, dear hero,_

_What would cause your resolve to crumble? _

He really hated when it was right, because more than anything those were the moments that burnt him to cinders.

(Good questions weren't too plentiful for him, not ones he could answer.)

Something that terrified him…

Deadhand, gaping maw lunging at him, made him convulse.

A cursory glance at the world around said he was being over-cautious… Another glance around anyway for the vampir. Ah, too-vivid memories abound.

He hated-hated-hated the living dead.

… wait. A vampir… a restless spirit that becomes malevolent and haunts the living. Usually by drinking their blood when they sleep, or… squeezing at their throats…

Or eating their flesh.

Fit Deadhand like an old glove (… oh, dear) but what of… Sheik?

A night stalker. Something that… moved through the dark, and preyed on other beings. Hylians.

The monster that rose from its grave to kill every night eternal.

He killed monsters.

That was… all he did, for a very long time.

_But what _makes_ a monster?_

And there was the crux of it.

His shade grinned at him, sharp white teeth gleaming impossibly bright under the moon.

"Monsters… monsters hurt people. They rip people apart and make them suffer, and kill without hesitation." He glared up at his shadow. "They will sully people's dreams for their own pleasures, or whims… you're certainly one."

His shade laughed.

_Oh, but sweet Link,_ it cooed, _I am you. _

He glared at it. It smiled again and moved away from him.

Towards… towards the temple…

And fell like a corpse fell to arrows, fading into the earth.

He shivered and stared at the ground.

A monster…

* * *

There was a bittersweet love nestled in the recesses of old books, tucked between the pages like a trinket.

A scrap of memory laid in beside bits of text…

He hadn't been sleeping well.

It was to be expected, he supposed while he leafed through another book of fables.

His best bet to deal with his fe… issue, was to learn more about it, right? Known devils were always less scary, and when you shone the light on the darkness the monsters lost some of their ferocity.

The strikingly logical conclusion of vampirism came about by the equation a) fangs plus b) biting = c) vampire. (While the notion of Sheik being some kind of wolfos, howling at the moon and panting with his tongue lolling out of his mouth was entertaining, it wasn't particularly feasible.)

He couldn't think of any other monster so unthreatening in its looks, save the fangs of the beast.

Problem with the research idea was that fables were just that - fables. And of course, stories changed with their origins. Vampir accounts varied just between cities.

_Vampir: an unholy union of life and death. It rises from its grave in the form of a red-eyed corpse to feed on the life-force of living. It has cherry red eyes, death's pallor and pale white hair. It is strongly repelled by sunlight…_

… no, just… no. (He tried picturing Sheik as pale. It didn't work.)

Okay then. Next book.

_Draugr is the name given to the undead monster born of a warrior spirit. A terrifying beast, it wakes every night to wreak bloody havoc in the living world. _

_It can pass through solid earth and has the strength of a behemoth. Even for many years after death the body is uncorrupted, still looking as if they have just died, or perhaps as if they were still alive and only sleeping…_

That… was a little more promising. (He took a moment to remember the last time Sheik had fought before him. Then it became much more promising.)

He turned the page and gazed at the illustration awaiting him.

Fierce red eyes glared from the face of what looked like a Sheikah - indeed, with his pointed ears and tanned skin, he could very well have passed for one…

The only issue was his strikingly red hair. (Could Sheikah even have red hair?)

Otherwise… Sharp teeth flashed from betwixt his curled lips.

The portrait gave a feeling of terrible violence, though there was no blood…

He glanced at the page beside it and began to read the image's caption: _Draugrs are single-minded - do not approach, or if one absolutely must do so with extreme caution. They desire nothing more than the shedding of blood,_

Then, below that pile of chicken scratch, in notably neater text:_ That's very rude, you know. Especially after having let you draw me._

Pausing at this point, he gave the book a bemused stare. He flipped to the cover - _Atlas of Ghouls, by The Devil Guard._

… alright then.

Moving on.

The book hadn't mentioned anything of the drinking of blood. But the draugr illustrated had fangs… perhaps an addition by the artist, for drama?

_Or a warning not listed in the text…_

He sighed and put it in his 'faint hope' pile. (He had three piles - 'utterly useless', 'faint hope', and 'eureka'. Utterly useless overflowed. Faint hope dwindled.

… Eureka didn't technically exist.)

He picked up one of the few remaining books - the library wasn't exactly overrun with fables. Despite the peoples' love of them, they weren't something of enough value to be transcribed. Cracking it open to the first page, he was delighted to find an image of the weeping eye. On the page beside it a story unfolded…

"_The story of Shade"_

_There is a beautiful land, overflowing with strength and life… Hyrule, it is called. Here, in this elegant place, there are many happy people, the people of the land - 'Hylians'. _

_They pray to Nayru for her wisdom and insight, pay homage to Din for her guidance in adversity, and thank with great altars and sacrificial offerings Farore for her fertile land. _

_And long ago, in this elegant country, there was another group. _

_A little group, stranger than the rest of the Hylians, who took to the mountains. The strong and swift, they made lives were no others could. _

_Deadlands where they made their home were harsh, and bright with ireful sun which bleached the land like bone. Over time, their pale skin bronzed and their fair hair became that little bit fainter. _

_They were unlike the other Hylians who lived in great cities in the less desolate land, strong and dark and skilled. _

_They did not worship the goddess trine and solely the goddess trine, like the others, but a great crow as well…_

_The one who despaired, "Iblis"…_

_The idol of Iblis changed them. They grew stronger and sharper still, and their deity was said to have descended himself to teach them the dark arts… _

_The Hylians began to fear these newer, stranger beings who were somehow ancient. They called them Sheikah - from the word for a knowledgeable elder…_

_They also began calling the Sheikah something else - the Shadow people. _

_For their worship of Iblis had changed them in ways no one could fully comprehend in the beginning…_

_Darker, swifter, stronger… they were a beautiful race marked by their monster eyes and sharp teeth. _

_Their devil god had granted the Sheikah the gift of immortal life in return for their humanity._

That was a cheerful read.

He closed the book and coughed at the dust cloud now swarming his face, eyes tearing up.

A devil god… heh.

He smiled and ran his fingers over the cover.

_Wonder how much of this is true… _

He scribbled down the book name and author, and a little bit else, on a scrap of cloth he tucked into his hat.

Zelda stood waiting in the entrance, one gloved hand resting on the cover of a book.

"Did you find what you were looking for?" She smiled at him.

"I think so." He pursed his lips. "Say… do you know anything about a deity called Iblis?"

Zelda tilted her head, eyes narrowed and brows pressing together.

"Iblis…" She murmured, rolling the sounds around on her tongue. "… It sounds familiar, but I'm sorry. I can't seem to recall anything."

"Its fine." His gaze wandered the ceiling, the walls, the window and trees beyond it, "Thanks for letting me in here, Zelda."

Her hand fell to his and squeezed. "It was the least I could do." It released him.

She caught him again when he was making to leave. "Say, Link… have you perhaps seen Sheik?"

_Breathe_.

The air felt painful when he drug it back into his crushed lungs. "… yeah. He's in Kakariko… In the Shadow temple."

Zelda frowned.

"… Link. The Shadow temple is locked off."

… _what? _

Complete incomprehension bloomed over his face, and he stared.

"Impa closed it herself. She said it wasn't safe… actually, she closed it just yesterday."

"… I… I see. Thank you, Zelda. Goodbye…"

He stepped out the door and left the castle shortly thereafter.

At the edge of the town - _loud, raucous, alive _- he stared at the choice before him in the quiet.

Forest, or mountain…

He pursed his lips and switched his gaze between east and far south.

_Sheik is somewhere over there… I need to talk to him…_

… _But I don't really want…_

_What can I say to him?_

_I'm not even sure what I'm feeling… _

Then he stared to the forest.

_Home… I could go home and sleep, speak to Saria in the morning…_

_Or just sleep… I could be safe again, tucked away in the forest…_

_Static stars are so much brighter… lasting longer than the shooting ones. _

_Maybe eternal. _

Another long look between the two. Static or fading…

He moved forward on his chosen path.

_I need to talk to you…_

* * *

The tree was changed - becoming a great, far-reaching thing. The illusion no longer extended into infinity and mist, but showed the high stone walls and very solid ceiling in lieu of white sky.

A sweet smell permeated the air, almost dizzying, from the delicate blossoms on the branches. They hung low and all-but glowed in the dim. He stepped over the channel of water to stand beneath the black tree, reaching up as countless bejeweled fingers to trail over the ceiling.

His shadow melted up and rose from the water, adrip with bright-dark smiles.

_Myself. _

It greeted with a sharp look, placing it's hands on it's hips.

He ducked his head by way of hello.

"I need to talk to you."

Laughter echoed in the half-light.

_Put down your sword and we will. _

It tilted its head and beckoned for him to do it.

With unusual but understandable stubbornness he clung on.

"No. As soon as I put it down, you will attack me."

_And how do you know?_

"Because I wouldn't." He responded, feeling wry.

The shade felt the same, reflecting it in his smile.

_What would you want with me, O' hero?_

"You know something about all of this, right? Something I don't…"

_If I know it, then you must know it, because I am you._

"You're everything I'm not," He corrected in a faint tone, sitting at the base of the tree.

The shade stepped out the water and across from him, legs crossed. It leant back on its hands to regard him.

_You don't like this. _

It guessed with noxious accuracy.

He bit his tongue. _"If you don't have something nice to say, don't say it at all."_

"… no, I'm not particularly happy about my current circumstances. I am speaking with you in your domain - this is very unsettling, actually."

_Not that, you idiot._

It rebuked.

_You're out of your comfort zone. You're used to the black and white of your childhood because really, you're still a child. And right now you're surrounded by gray._

"What do you mean by that?" He inquired, raising an eyebrow.

_In this unfamiliar territory you lose your courage and flee from the reality. What you believe is being overturned and rewritten. _

Tilting its head to one side and lifting that shoulder, it continued to soliloquy to its uncomprehending origin.

_Really, I don't think its so hard to see the problem here._

"If its not so hard, then why don't you _tell_ me?" He pleaded.

His dark-half lost it's patience.

He rolled to the side and swore, ducking away from the slashing blade.

His sword screamed against its partner - swing, parry, dodge - he barely escaped a fall into the deep channel.

His Shade only ran the surface in pursuit.

"Agh!"

_Ice _rips through his shoulder, sent him stumbling back into the wall. He brings up his sword with his right arm - "Ah-" - and fixates on the rushing darkness, black blade raised high -

He breaks into dust as the sword is crashing down.

Link looks up - the room is empty stone again.

* * *

_That was ever so helpful. _

His fingers brushed over his cap. Navi floated towards him from the trees, flickering in front of his face.

"What did you go to the water temple for?" Such a squeaky voice. He was the only one who'd find it a balm.

"I went to talk to Dark Link." He replied with the usual frankness.

"WHAT?"

His ears pricked then drooped in pain .

"He wasn't very helpful." Was his ever-consoling addition, while Navi flittered about on a rant from the pits of the otherworld.

It was nice to know someone cared about him.

… friends to care about him.

No matter what he did or didn't do and no matter who he was.

Navi sensed his turn to melancholy and paused in her lecture, shooting right up to his nose.

"Link?"

_No matter what, you would still love me,_ he realized, almost-faint, queasy. _Even when we learned I wasn't a Kokori you still loved me. _

"What should I do, Navi?" His shoulders slumped with a great sigh. _I'm terrible. I'm a complete idiot. _

"Do about what, Link?" She prodded in softer tones.

"You know, I never really thought about his feelings on the matter." He mumbled.

Boots pattered against the dust of the road, winding back to Hyrule field and the distant towns. "But I can't be any more scared of him for what he is than they could treat me for being different."

This alarmed Navi more, which made him explained to her in expanded detail that _no, I am making nice with Dark Link and_ _- is that even _possible_-wait not that's not the point-_

… Navi really did love him.

Behind him he heard the faint lapping of water against the shore and smiled.

The wind whistled over the sweet and silent earth, smoothing its greenery and painting it with faint washes of gold. The crisp cool of fall was settling over the land.

_Inhale, exhale. _

He closed his eyes and stood still for a moment.

_The world is changing, Link. _

Someone whispered in his ear,

Will you change with it, or stand still?

* * *

**[chapter 2 end]**

AU: Vampir (from Polish Vaper) is an earlier phrase for vampire. It is not a spelling mistake.

Weeping eye = sheikah emblem.

Some of you may think, after reading this, that Sheik has monstrous, Jhonen Vasquez walrusvampire-esque fangs of grotesque proportions (I make my point yet?) this is not the case.

His fangs are maybe a centimeter longer than the rest of his teeth, MAYBE. Those would rip apart a throat if they bit down, no problem. For a non fatal bite he'd have to _avoid_ major veins and arteries…

So. Remember, kids, don't let the vampys bite your neck ~ 3


	3. Just to show you the light

Note for chapter 3: I took some liberties with bottom of the well. There is an oc in here, and if anyone reads this and just closes the window now, I'm okay with that. I get it - but please have a little faith in me. They aren't going be important, but I had to introduce them early - there is a good reason for them, and if they seem marysueish then I overdid it, so please tell me, but there is a good reason for them in here (I know I just typed that). And also there is a reason the sugar-sweet idealistic crap they spew, not rooted in wishfufillment. Personally, I like cynical and crazy characters, so... Yeah. Ye of faith, read on, re who have tired of my rmabling nonsnese, begone with ye. (I think they're already gone though)

Review responses:

Sorry everyone! I wasn't trying to ignore you guys, it's just that my email is full and and- crap! Also I'm a coward! So!

Yeah. Chapter 2 reviews and up – if I don't mention a response in here, I didn't think there was a question, or I'm stupid and missed it. Fail. See below note for excuses.

Trolly's Bara-chan: YES. BECAUSE I SUCK. -now I gotta put my troll face on-

Vivian's shadow: There was a promise? -shot- If I, at least, know a story contains vampires, I often won't read it. Just a personal quirk developed from too many bad romances. But, yeah, if they're done right (a sincere hope I'm managing on that front) they add a nice amount of darkness to an otherwise run of the mill /period/ fantasy. He DOES. With all the hiding and not letting you touch him and disappearing in weird ways.

Now try picturing Link as a vampire. -shot again-

Ps: I know, I think the only thing worse was dead hand. I am so glad you say that, though, because I wanted an 'oh god' moment. I HATED THOSE THINGS. So creepy when you aren't expecting them (all the time). So... I really don't like them either.

I'm gonna go have shadow temple based nightmares now. Sorry for the late reply (and everything else I've done wrong or forgotten about. So, like, everything bad in the world ever or something, I don't know)

AUehara: Yeah, I did, because the original was basically a giant free writing exercise and I tried just polishing what I had written at first but then... um. A plot was formed, characters made, designed and agonized over just for the story, I ended up doing stupid amounts of research and just...

well, this story took over my head for quite a while.

I have, like, 7 or so chaps done but I always forget to update -fail- and I'm very shy about them... Mm, I don't have a beta, so I keep em awhile, but I'll put one up now.

To all my other reviewers, fro the old and new story, please forgive my sporadic updates! Right now I'm kind of stuck on taking out or leaving in a scene and character development, and I like to have the next chapter done before I post, and some other stuff that doesn't make sense. Lets just say I can't remember anything ever.

EXCUSE TIME. Um, its 2:29 am, I just ended a con weekend; I'm sick and quite tired. So if I managed to leave a big chunk of something insane in this chapter, please message me and let me know, okay? –smile- because if I read it now, I won't catch it. Hahahaha… crap I wanna sleep. Mm… night, loves.

And to everyone, it really makes me happy if you can read this story and enjoy it. I'm trying my best, and while _Sheik_ at least fights me the whole way, I want to drag it out and finish with a bang. Even when hes yelling at me about 'kudzu plots' and 'simplicity' and 'I am not going to do that to his ear, you filthy pervert'.

And also something about taking liberties with the bottom of the well. And the shadow temple. And physics. He's totally lying, though, what the hell does he know about physics?

Hope you enjoy.

* * *

**Chapter 3 Bridges go up in smoke (just to show you the light)**

_Dripdripdrip. _

Impa wouldn't be pleased if she knew what he was doing.

Actually, he wasn't too pleased with himself, either. But he had to. "If this is the bottom of the well, why is it so… dry?"

_Because I drained it. _

_Dripdripdrip_

"Almost dry," Navi amended, flitting around. He asked her to be still - he was using her light.

As for how he got down here… it was better not to think about it.

_I hate graves I hate soil I hate canals oh god I hate hate hate_

The sweet little fae settled well as she could. Something Sheik had said had bothered him… well, actually, many things Sheik said bothered him - but this one stood out.

"This is where all the bad feelings fester."

"What did you mean?" He muttered, ducking into another room.

"I didn't say anything, Link." Voice love-filled and patient, he smiled for the half-light.

"Not you, Navi."

"What are you looking for here?" She asked instead, flying a neat S curve before him.

"Courage." He smiled and looked around.

Various devices littered the room, sinister and creaking.

A torture chamber.

"If I'm afraid of something, the best way to handle it is to immerse myself, right?"

Navi pulsed in alarm. "Erm, Link-?"

A serene, twitchy smile melded over his face. He slipped into the main room and waited, so-patient, for the wail of wind and the dropping shade. He leapt back and shredded it.

Ignoring the scattered rupees, not quite for a greater purpose (he didn't like to think about where they came from. He didn't like to think about being grabbed and dropping things in the panic. He _hated_ being grabbed.), he moved through the evil room. When he came to stand before the devices, he ran what he knew through his head.

"_There was a man who they say could see the truth… His house was where that well is now…"_

Betrayal. He was put down as a dog for it, by hylians. People like him- like Link. He was tortured before he was killed, in a room made just for him. His body was likely rotting inside of this place - perhaps even one of the skeletons he saw as a child. The one that pointed him to the lens of truth…

And even if he wasn't tortured, others were. Tortured - as in, made to suffer in atrocious ways, at the hands of their own kind. Hylians like him, like Zelda - probably ordered by the Royals themselves - had taken others down here, strapped them in, ripped their lives and their peace from their soon-to-be cold fingers.

He could have become this.

His back hit the wall and he slid down, staring at the ceiling. _If things were different, I could have been this. _

A monster like this.

Footsteps echoed in the gloom. Link looked up into the face of a man he didn't know.

He jolted.

"Now, how'd you get down here…?" He asked, raising an eyebrow. His eyes were faded red.

"Fell down."  
"I've only ever heard of children falling down rabbit holes." Was his smart retort as he walked around the chamber.

Strange was the best word for his attire - a mane of glossy dark feathers ensconced his shoulders and neck while the rest of his clothes were black cloth.

Pale fingers tinged gray trailed over the relics of hell. "You're a hylian." He noted, "Why are you down here?"

"I needed to see it." Link looked up to the man. "What are you, if not a hylian? … could you be a sheikah…?"

He chuckled, tucking his chin into the swath of feathers. "Not quite. You could say I'm a rook." In a disturbing display of apathy, he sat down on one dark apparatus. "If you needed to see this, then by all means look. But you do know what you are seeing, yes?"

Link glanced at him. "I'm looking at hell." He guessed.

The man nodded. "Very good."

For a long time he sat slumped against the wall and regarded, with glazed eyes, the darkness swathing the room.

All the bad feelings…

"They did something rather cruel here." The self-styled rook's voice muted his thoughts.

He looked up in interest - really, they were sitting in a torture chamber. If there was something even crueler he missed, well… morbid curiosity, he'd call it.

The man nodded to him. "The sheikah traitor this place was first made for, and the ones after. When death overtakes a sheikah, there is a tradition of giving alms to the birds. They didn't honor it."

_Why would birds need money?_

He asked as much, rolling his head to the side so his hair brushed his shoulder.

Smiling a secret, the man extended his hands to either side, gesturing to the emblems and statues. "To give alms to the birds is to leave a corpse, or parts of it, on the mountainside for the crows and vultures. It is a way to give back what was taken in life."

Link pursed his lips. "… but, when you bury someone, doesn't their body also rejoin the world, being eaten by plants?"

Sharp teeth gleamed when the smile went wider. A shrug rolled from his shoulders.

"Each has their own way. Recall that the sheikah also hold crows sacred - perhaps they felt this was a sacrifice to their god. In any case, you should ask a sheikah for those answers."

"There are no sheikah left." Link pointed out.

"Ah-ah." The man tutted. "There are two." He stood, brushing himself off. "You know, many atrocities were committed, right where we sit. Men, women, even children… slaughtered in paranoid hatred. One would do well to take a good look here before deciding what makes a monster."

He ran his fingers the length of the wall and pressed his side against the stone of the doorway, tossing a final look over his shoulder. "The world is not just gray, little one. It can be black or white, or exploding with every hue. It is simply the angle you're looking from." He disappeared into the dark of the tunnels.

Tilting his head, Link watched tendrils of smoke drift by the ceiling. Then he returned to contemplating the torture devices.

* * *

Navi spoke again when they left the well. "So, did you find what you wanted?"

Link glanced back at her, perturbed. "Er… yeah. Don't you remember?"

Navi fluttered around his face.

"Remember what? We went through the tunnels, looking at those weird machines, and then I lost you for a little while… could you have found it while we were apart?"

Link stared.

"Uh… yeah." He ducked his head and pretended it was just a nod, frowning. "Yeah."

_What lit the chamber…? And how did she manage to leave it without me?_

"… you know, Navi, its scary. Maybe… maybe those people we walk by in the town, maybe they're like that? Scared and dark and… what if they could do things like that?"

The little blue fae paused a beat, glittering in the late noon. "You mustn't think that way, Link. Not everyone is the way those people were."

"But what if they could be?" He pressed. "What if, inside everyone, there is that potential? To become so scared and so hateful that they could…"

"Who's to say they don't?" A woman intoned from behind him. "Really, anything is possible."

"You mustn't think like that." Navi rejected, flying around Link's head in dizzying circles.

"Good afternoon, Impa." He bows as he says it. Looking up, he found she'd crossed her arms.

"Been somewhere you shouldn't have been, boy?" Her tone is sharp, reprimanding - as it should be.

"Yes," The admittance is quiet. It is the tone of one who knows they have down wrong and knows what is coming.

Her dagger-gaze continues until he feels like he will pop. "… in the well." Sighing with admittance he stars the earth between his toes.

Despite the dark looks and possible lecture in his future, the danger in going down there… he was still unsure whether he'd found what he needed, or something to fear even more. Perhaps there had been no peak, no point to it… oh, but, there was a point, wasn't it? That strange man in the tunnels…

"Impa… have you ever heard of someone living down in there?"

The stern expression on her grew darker, and Link found himself second-guessing his decisions again. Perhaps he should've just shut his mouth…

"Link. There is no one living in the well."

He blinks at her.

"… alright, but then who was I talking to?"

… _but I was also told there was no one in the shadow temple, since it was…_

"Very likely, a phantom." Red eyes glinted in the afternoon sun. "Many horrible things have happened below this place. Doubtless, it keeps its share of lingering souls."

… _A phantom? I guess he could've been… but I've never seen one like him before. _

He paused and opened his mouth

_If I ask she'd know. _

- teeth clacked together as he shut it again.

"I'm sorry Impa." He laughed, rubbing the back of his head.

She blinked and stared while he bid her farewell and made his way.

_And I'm sorry again…_

The temple groaned and cried under his feet. Wails drug up from between stones, not-there fingers rippled and clawed at him. Invisible hands caressed his face, arms, everything. He bit his lip and ducked away from the light cackles. Fox fire drifted in and out in the gloom.

_Damn it, Sheik._

He shook away the grasping fingers, hissing through his teeth. The not-theres keep cackling. He felt their gleeful gazes etching a curse into his back.

Fingers drug over the wailing walls. He slumped and panted at the corner, then grit his jaw and continued on.

_I will find you, even if you don't want to be found. _He let himself feel a little smug. _I always do. _

The temple disagreed with him. It gave another ungodly moan, like an awakening redead, and shook.

He felt the weathered stone give way beneath him.

Rocks battered him on his way down, sharp pebbles tore at his body, his knees cracked hard against the dirt.

He slumped over and cried out, huffing and wheezing.

Another high laugh echoed around him.

Then the room glowed red.

….

_What are you doing in here, you _idiot?

The voice that woke him up was bliss to his ears, the words from the gods that only hylians could hear.

He mumbled something embarrassing and unintelligible, pressing his nose into what held him up.

The voice grumbled something back, something very rude and quite mean, maybe a little lewd if he really tried to hear it.

A satisfied sigh drifted from his lips.

His body was being moved. Wrapped in something soft and tucked into solid heat, he really couldn't summon a care. It did not matter how often he was jostled - and he was very often jostled, not out of malice but still never accidental - he couldn't find it in him to wipe the lingering bliss, or any desire to.

He almost felt like he could sleep forever…

"… nnmph…" He gargled out when he was dropped, in a way most unceremonious, onto a soft mat.

The voice said something about him maybe wanting to kill himself.

He sometimes agreed, but right then he just wished for the warm back.

The voice told him to stop trying to wake up.

Very gently, he eased the tension from his limbs and obeyed, after one last grasp in the direction of heat quick-fading…

In the world around him, shadows loomed. They held up hands and whispered malicious things with crescent moon eyes and Cheshire's smiles. The silver shining moon hung from a noose of clouds, full and beautiful.

A skullkid settled on the cloud beside it and began painting it red.

A bright vermillion eye bloomed over the silver, and it began to cry, washing away the laughing shadows and drowning everything around him.

He watched the crystalline wine rush past, and a hand faded into the space before him.

Looking up he found Sheik.

A soft smile that was at once a sharp smirk with glinting fangs welcomed him to the dark world. One hand was held out in expectation. He took it and was helped onto the glass stair where Sheik balanced, then led up the trail to the moon.

At the end of the glass was a balcony with a crystal balustrade, multitudes of faces cut into it and all glittering as if they owned their own light instead of just borrowing.

It dazzled him, and Sheik leant over the rail to brush his fingers against the crying Luna.

He wiped the dripping tear away.

"Its alright now." He soothed, and Link stared down at the little lights that sprung from the draining water, like fireflies.

He looked back to Sheik and found that his hands were dyed the same dreadful red as the eye on the moon.

Earnest eyes looked for acceptance, murmuring, _Its alright._

* * *

Coming-to against at wall was never his favorite feeling.

A disoriented Navi concurred, flying a confused circle from her little 'room' in his cap.

"Where are we?" She asked in a dazed tone, her flight path staggered.

One look around brought him to the conclusion of 'shadow temple'.

The little fae let out a hearty yawn. "Nnn. Close to the entrance, I hope…" and floated back under the brim of his cap.

Thanks were murmured when he realized her prayer was answered - they were two meters from the door.

The sunrise over Kakariko was blinding when he stepped out. His eyes had to be covered against the furious light.

A blob took up the space in front of him, a blob that gradually faded to become the silhouette of one he knew well.

One who very clearly knew _him_ too well.

Impa's stern look from yesterday - because it was yesterday, wasn't it? - couldn't compare to the back-lit ire he was receiving then.

"You know, Link." She rumbled, "When I say, as both the guardian of this town and as the sage of this temple, that something is unsafe, I expect people will listen. I especially expect you, who knows well what danger is, will listen. Now, imagine how I react when I learn that you do not, and have disobeyed my word for a fool's errand."

He flinched.

She continued staring at him, almost-baleful.

"It wasn't a fool's errand." Defiance was tiny sprout, well-within danger of being crushed with one false move.

She raised an eyebrow. "Oh? And what did you accomplish? Did you find what you went in there for?"

The false move came. He faltered. "Well… I… no." A sigh drifted free.

Impa's body loosened the littlest bit, and her stare become just the scantest portion softer. "If you want to find a shadow, Link, look for its owner."

… _huh?_

Satisfied for the moment, she threw a deku-nut and leapt away under cover of the blast.

"Are you an idiot?" Someone seethed and grabbed him from behind. Weapons were quickly stolen from reach.

A hand covered his eyes and he almost howled. His arms came up to fight.

The rag that came over his mouth when he again tried to cry out made him fade fast..

He heard, in the approaching dark, another deku nut go off.

When his eyes came uncovered, light shimmered from a hole in the sky, soft and angelic. The sound of water filled his ears and when he sat up he saw its source, a little spring in the ground.

Hands caught him when he almost slumped over again.

"Lay down." A man ordered.

He turned and tilted his head best he could.

"Hi Sheik."

Sheik gnashed his teeth.

Link giggled. "Mmm… I think I have a concussion."

"For Farore's sake, Link, when you decide to do something stupid, could you at least do it intelligently?"

"That's a paradox." Hyrule's hero pointed out with a woozy smile. "… mm, hey. You called me Link."

"Well, I - yes. Yes, I suppose I did. Don't change the subject." The wrath drained from his voice to make way for puzzlement. Just a little pool of irritation remained. "Why on earth were you in there?"

"You." He chuckled and coughed.

Sheik paused, didn't seem to know what to say. "… idiot." He hissed, again. "If it weren't for that spell the ghosts would have swallowed you."

"You saved me?" He asked in a faint voice, eyes half-lidded, that punch-drunk smile on his lips still.

"… No. I don't know what cast it. Impa said…" He trailed off and his eyes softened a little. Under the scarf, he was surely smiling. "… well, it seems not only the goddesses thrice favor you."

"… 'll take your word for it." Link yawned and shook his head a little. "Am I drugged?"

"No. your body is telling you you've over-worked it. Again." He gave a soft tap to the side of his head. "Go back to sleep, Link."

Link forced himself to keep his eyes open and trained on the sheikah.

"… I'll still be here when you wake."

The hero took him at his word.

He drifted off into the oblivion of dreaming.

Again under the white-splattered sky, red water rushed to wash away the earth and its shadows. He watched it crash beyond his pebble in the ocean.

The moon hung, clean and pure, in the sky. Glass steps shimmered into existence. He walked up, watching the waterfalls from the sky further flood the earth, and stepped onto the balcony of the moon.

In the shadowed cradle of a mare, Sheik watched in expectance.

Link reached out to him.

* * *

It was said that the sheikah could not lie. Link had never had reason to doubt that with Sheik (ignoring the whole masquerading as Zelda thing - well, things, because there were multiple instances now) and hoped it would stay that way.

When he woke, Sheik was there.

Acting on impulse - all too normal for him - he pulled the startled shadow to his chest and hugged him.

"Thank you." He mumbled into his collarbone.

Whole body tensed, Sheik just managed the obligatory awkward pat on the head.

"… its fine." Half-whispered, he leant up to hear it.

"And…" Link leant back. "I'm… sorry. I was being really stupid… I know better. You're you."

Sheik's tension, if possible, had grown.

Link continued with unusual blitheness. "What you do is what matters. You've never done anything but be kind to me. And I shouldn't treat you like I did over - well, over anything - but especially something that you don't have any control over." Any other time might have had him noticing how much the dear Hero had spoken. Now he was just noticing just how close Link managed to press into his side.

"That's not entirely true-"

"Shut up." Link smiled at him, while he stayed stupefied. "Just… listen, please? I was being an idiot. You're my friend and if you ever disappear like that again I think I'll have to gut you-" Sheik let out a compulsive half-startled laugh "-You're my friend, Sheik."

He kept repeating that.

Sheik wouldn't look away from him.

Half-light was so dim. Wouldn't he look better in the sun?

"… where are we?" Minutes later, he raised this question.

Those minutes had been spent with Sheik patiently, if not uncomfortably enduring his embrace.

"A grotto beneath Kakariko." The man of shadows informed.

"Oh." He shifted and hesitated before letting go.

Sheik scooted back.

Link glanced around and sighed. Looked like the one behind the potions shop… He leant back and watched Sheik, who was running his fingers over the smoothed walls. His back was curved over and made him seem small, easy to overlook. His legs tensed and untensed with each breath. Predatory nature was evident in his entire body, and even without dismissing his training as a killer, Link wondered how he never saw it. Sheik moved more like a cat than a hylian.

(A cat about to rip out a throat. That was neither here nor there.) He pursed his lips and squinted in the gentle light.

And then, found himself wondering… if Sheik had any other attributes…

Sheik caught his gaze and quirked a brow, looking up. "Hero?"

"Can't you go back to calling me Link?" He begged, eyes flickering to meet Sheik's for a heartbeat.

"… Link." He brought up the hand the hero had watched and turned it, purposely slow, in a shaft of light. "Something you wish to see?" Tone almost-pointed, his eyes dared Link to disagree.

"… d'you have anything else? Besides the fangs."

… what?

A faint smile, hidden by the cowl, crinkled up his eyes. "No. Why? Aren't they enough?"

Link grinned.

"… it is best we were leaving." The sheikah observed, minutes into more comfortable silence. "Lest everyone begin to wonder where you've gone off to."

"You're coming with me, right?" Was immediately blurted, Link giving him an unabashed stare.

Sheik blinked. "I… I suppose so."

So Link smiled, and they left the secret space.

In town, people stared. It wasn't new, nor uncomfortable. It was even expected - their Hero walking past, close enough to his ephemeral shadow that their shoulders bumped?

"I spoke to Zelda awhile ago." Link murmured in absent tones, Sheik shifting at his side.

"You wish to visit her?"

"We should."

Sheik quirked a brow. "We? Why would I be going?"

"She asked about you. She's worried. … please, Sheik?" Link turned, put his hands on Sheik's shoulders, and stared. With big, shiny eyes, like a child about to cry, he stared.

… to be fair, Sheik never really had a chance.

Head bobbing in acquiescence, he surrendered his next few days to the whims of a now-ecstatic Link.

…

Bags packed, weapons stocked, bandages fresh and wrapped - it was time to go.

Sheik sighed, running a hand through his fringe, and stepped into the sunlight at the bottom of the steps.

Whinnying from the riverside made him turn his head; Epona was eating the last remnants of a carrot.

"I was under the impression we were walking, Link."

Which raised the question of why they weren't warping.

Link waved him over. "I was going to see if she'd carry our things. I haven't walked anywhere without a pack in so long… I think I forgot what it feels like."

Sheik rolled his eyes heavenward, an action Link did not miss, and hummed. "Might I ask, hero, why we simply do not warp to the temple of time?"

"Its a short walk, and…" He jolted, cut himself off, then gave a strained smile. "Really, its not that far, Sheik."

"You're not telling me something. Why?"

"Its nothing important." Link denied, bringing up his hands in defense.

The look he got then said everything; It _is_ important, I _will_ find out eventually, and then I will _get_ _you_.

Sheik could be such a sweetheart.

After loading up Epona, they made off.

Bold blue skies, brushed with shredded clouds, stretched overhead into oblivion. Crisp air laced with the music of drying leaves, a cry to welcome autumn's hold on the land. Grass rustled in a cool breeze and crunched under the soles of their shoes.

Sheik sucked in a breath like it was the only he'd ever get and reached out, grasping, towards the sky.

Without asking why Link watched.

"Autumn will be beautiful this year." What might've been a sigh drifted from his hidden lips.

Link almost pointed out that autumn was always beautiful, but then he recalled lakes of lava and floating citadels…

He sucked in a breath, too. Thank the goddesses for small miracles, like a September without war.

"I'm sorry." Almost disappearing into the breeze, Sheik's words sent him reeling back into ice.

Memories, of shifting water and reflections and shades, of falling down dank and ire-seeped catacombs…

Vampir were monsters. But Sheik was human.

As the Hero of Time, Link had developed a certain -masochistic- fondness for paradoxes. He had to, or condemn himself to insanity (rather than simply risk it).

Sheik was a paradox, maybe even from the moment they met… A shadow who housed light, the heroic betrayer, the nameless darkness.

There where many more, Link was sure - many he may never know.

But this the freshest one was painful and obvious, and festering, and it made his stomach turn in guilt because he was the one between them who was wrong.

What words could you say to someone then?

"You wouldn't have hurt me. I understand… now…" _I'm an idiot. _he wished he could summon the words to his throat.

"To say that and then say you understand shows how little you really do, H… Link."

"I don't know much of anything." He confessed, putting his hands behind his head, "But its never stopped me before." For better or worse.

_Damn it all. _

"That is indeed true." Sheik chuckled, glancing at him. "… surely you have questions about that bit of darkness."

At least now he had ground to walk again, "Surely." The murmured echo carried to the heavens while his eyes sought out bright clouds. "But… not now."

Sheik slanted him a glance, and led him to continue, "Its nice here."

"Where is here?"

They paused, looking at each other, one serious and one imploring elaboration.

"Here in the fields, in this part of time… Even in this world. Where is the place you speak so fondly of? In the space around us, or only in your mind?"

"Our minds." The correction rung out and made fickle time stand still, defiant of nature, while fate cocked its head and watched. "Its between us." His voice held power - softness, kindness, a pure soul.

It shouldn't. It had no right. All the sway in the world enveloped him.

Fingertips lingering on the imaginary chain, smaller than cracks in the earth and lighter than the full moon, he breathed. It wrapped around his throat but didn't choke him.

What marvelous influence.

"… you'll have to tell me more about that later," Sheik murmured to him as they breached the gates, fingers still brushing around his throat.

It made Link smile.

It was nice to be the one captivating for a change.

Maybe that was why Sheik did it.

Hushed murmurs of comfort and strokes on her neck barely kept Epona from leaping up and running far, far away. The poor mare did so hate towns.

The sheikah eyed her, stepping away from her master when she gave a sharp toss of her head in his direction.

"How did you tame her?" His pensive question caught Link as a dear in the headlights.

Whistling carried in the air. Epona calmed.

"Epona's song." Link enlightened him, repeating the notes and listening to Sheik follow. "She won't let anyone near her unless they know this song. Malon taught me a long time ago."

"Malon?" Sheik cocked his head, eyes not veering from the gate they approached.

"Ah… Epona's owner, you could say. I just borrow her."

"I see." Sheik raised one hand to the guard, who called for the gate to open.

They continued through the fresh-formed metal (only a few months old…) and down the castle road.

Link glanced at the trail leading off to the fountain of the fairy queen - erm, great fairy.

The trees around the castle were beginning to color with all the hues of fall, preparing for the twilit rapture of a beautiful death.

Leaves floating past on soft wind sent him reeling with nostalgia of the forest he'd lost, his dearly beloved home.

Another conversation with the guards at the entrance flew by, amounting to leaves on the wind.

Only less beautiful.

His thoughts grew stranger as the nights grew longer.

They stopped to watch the sunset before they remembered they couldn't stay there.

…

"Why aren't we going straight to her?" Link inquired - as soon as they were inside the main walls, Sheik had caught his hand and pulled him away from the light and noise of the main halls.

"For the simple reason that we cannot." Sheik's voice was cold salve.

Link gripped his hand back.

Skulking down hallways was always a problem for him - his gear and his demeanor left little room for stealth.

This was not so for Sheik. Body pressed so close to the wall he could've melted into it, feet making no vibration or sound when they hit the unforgiving stone. His hand guided the amateur one of Link, through the darkness in a dominion of light.

They melted from the shameful dim and slipped into a room which felt more like a chapel.

Tall, beautiful windows stretched over a while, brushing the ceiling and raining them with rays of benevolent golden light.

Link stepped into it and wondered how anyone could stand to be without it.

Sheik echoed his thoughts, almost… "Shadows crave light. They follow it, even to their doom. Shadow can drown light."

"Light can burn away shadow." Zelda's voice floated in from above - they looked up to see her leaning over a balustrade.

"Zelda!" Link called, while Sheik gave a more formal greeting of 'get off of the rail this instant, or I shall kill you before the fall.'

… Sheik could be such a sweetheart.

Airy laughter echoed as she whisked off, and the pitter-patter of her steps made them turn to see her running down the stairs.

"Oh, you found him!" She cried, pressing a kiss to a jolted Link's cheek before throwing her arms around Sheik's shoulders.

"It isn't proper to make such contact, Milady-" A guard, skeptical from their entrance, began to address.

"Hush now! Surely I am allowed to greet my other half, am I not! Leave us, so that we might catch up on lost time!"

The guard, now formally shooed, was forced to leave. (He wasn't made to be overjoyed mind you.)

Link raised an eyebrow. "Other half?" He echoed.

"Yes, yes he is indeed, and thank you so very much for finding him." She then proceed to lay kisses all over Sheik's forehead whilst he struggled for freedom.

Watching the playful motion, Link felt almost-alone again. He wasn't a part of this…

But he stood back and watched the shadow under the light, held close to the Lady, and wondered if this was simply right.

Even not being in the picture, he felt happiness for the people in it.

Other half… if Sheik was shadow and Zelda light, then why did they not rip each other apart?

He backed up where the sunset couldn't touch his face anymore.

The two separated under the burning gold, graceful frames cutting elegant silhouettes from the shine and shade.

Light played in red eyes. Watching it, he felt strange, like his heart had frozen for an eternity or just a beat on a drum. Now it definitely felt like the beating of a drum…

His fingers worked their way over the door and he stepped out, Zelda calling after.

He moved down the halls, not speaking, brushing past curious stares and half-formed questions. Half-formed answers were kept buried deep inside so he wouldn't touch them.

Stepping out found him in a vast and empty hall. Windows slit in the tops sprayed the ground with the moon's silver blood, seeping over the floor and collecting in everything. Shadows licked at the ground beneath his feet and made him shudder.

"Link."

Fingers wrapped around his wrist.

His breath caught in his throat while he watched the light and dark play against each other, testing the water. "… how do you to do it?"

"Do what?" Sheik's frown carried into his voice.

Link scrutinized the boundary, trying to find out just what made it work… "Right beside each other, connected, neither one destroying the other when everything in nature says it should be so. How…"

The words weren't meant for Sheik, but he didn't know, and how could he?

"Balance." Solemness echoed around them in the night-lit hall.

The hero of time turned to the shadow and cocked his head. "… I see…" He looked up at the windows, letting in the moon. "When Zelda called you her other half, what did she mean?"

Sheik opened his mouth to reply, when they heard a door creak open.

A blink later found Link pressed deep into the shadows, between stone and Sheik. Lips pressed into his neck.

Link had the uncomfortable and (under current circumstance) unfortunate realization that he would dream of this moment.

The footsteps halted. "…. oh, my. The Lady's pet-" Derisive, dismissive, "make sure to clean that up when you're done."

_What-?_

Gasp caught in his throat, he stared at Sheik.

Sheik snorted, "Of course," brushing his fingers over Link's collarbone in a way that was almost-comforting.

The realization reappeared. He tried to melt into the wall.

The steps picked back up.

He leant back and held his breath, tried to remember those terrible words not where he'd heard them from, until the door opened and shut.

The sheikah backed off into the moonbeams. One hand gestured for him to follow.

Quite happy to stay out of sight he obeyed.

"What was that?" He demanded in the soft dim, stepping after Sheik. "He just-"

"Yes, you'll find its not uncommon." A sigh fettered, he slanted a soft look in Link's direction. "They presumed I'd simply… caught a rat, of sorts. As long as they don't have to clean it up…"

"… they don't care." Always sharp, those three words… "They just thought you'd brought back some peasant to…" He trailed off. One problem of his was gone then, at least.

Sheik nodded and gestured for them to walk.

"… you… wouldn't do that, right?" He mumbled, only following Sheik through the wall by a hair of notice.

"… I wouldn't bring back a peasant, no. Normally I go down to the kitchens and…" He trailed off.

The only footsteps halted. Blue eyes stared in blank horror.

Sheik stopped.

"… I drink the blood from the meat cellar, alright?" He admitted with a sigh, staring over one shoulder. "Be quiet about it. I'm not supposed to." Slightly petulant, his tone reminded of a teenager.

The slow nod of understanding was followed by the fading of his pallor.

Sheik didn't bother stopping the next sigh.

Link flinched and took a few quick steps to catch up with him. Worried eyes dogged the sheikah, who kept looking away.

"Where are we going?" Link asked in a faint whisper as he looked around the stone corridor.

Sheik turned to dark painting in the Shadow's passage, decadent and familiar… A road in dead woods up to a black castle…

Sheik stepped up so that his foot went through the frame, and held out a hand to Link.

They moved through the painting and down another winding path to a door.

Link wondered if Sheik intended to answer at all.

_Creaaak_ went the hinges, before it answered for him.

His eyes wandered the room while Sheik lit the torches. "… so you don't sleep in a coffin, then."

Light chuckling lit up the place better than the fire. "No, I don't. Does that disappoint you?"

"A little bit." He baited, twining his hands together behind him.

"Well, I can't have that. Suppose I'll have to go out and get one - only after dark, mind you. Wouldn't want to burn to ash."

Link laughed.

An apple was thrust in his direction.

"You haven't eaten since Kakariko - knowing you, since yesterday." This information was delivered in the tone of someone who did not guess, but knew.

Link thanked him and bit into the juicy gold flesh. Sheik turned away.

Blue eyes again wandered the room.

A low ceiling compared to others in the castle, but still well above them. Rafters stretched out over it in a careful web. There looked to be a loft in the darkest corner, not unlike the one in Impa's home.

"Is this where you live?" Link asked after swallowing.

"I wouldn't use the term 'live'." Sheik's tone was light, like they were speaking of songs. "Perhaps 'rest', never 'live'."

"Then where do you live?" The stone walls were lonely, like temples and graves with epitaphs long-faded… it was little wonder.

"In the world, in my lyre, at Zelda's side… and, of course, when I am beside you."

Link turned about three shades of red, each time more resembling a strawberry's flesh. "H… huh?"

Sheik finally turned to look back at him. "You're going to drop the apple."

So Link re-clutched it, juice slipping over his fingers and making them sticky.

"Yes, when I am beside you I am alive… Does that sound strange?" He cocked his head and sat on a crate, likely filled with something less-than-legal. "For the longest time I simply shadowed you and waited, for each time we could speak… only in those moments could I transcend being a shadow to become something human."

"… oh." He blinked and finished off the apple, then stared at the core. He pretended that he didn't feel a little bit disappointed, that Sheik didn't feel quite so strongly about their bond beyond the music and the words.

But really, then, what more was a friendship?

Caring and closeness and love… That was spoken of it and in the deep woods truth, sometimes false-truth, but what was spoken in the cities and what actually was were different, predestined to be.

Sheik, he reflected, loved Zelda, but few else in the world.

"Toss it here." Sheik kicked an up-turned crate.

Link tossed it in.

"I'll dump it in the rubbish pile tomorrow. The groundskeeper will appreciate it."

Again the stone walls yawned between them. Link chose to break their spell. "… you never got to answer. What did Zelda mean, earlier?"

Sheik sighed. "Just that. We are connected - for many years we shared a skin - one shell, two souls."

Shell, not 'body'… There was a significance he didn't comprehend but still captured, wrapped just in the exchange of two words, one for the other. Language was power, the words of a spell…

"We became close. I don't think one of us would go on for very long without the other."

_Would, or could? Sheik is stubborn enough to not go on without her,_ he realized. _And Zelda is just as stubborn. _

All three of them were stubborn. And Ganondorf was stubborn.

He wondered if tenacity (or "not knowing when to quit," to quote Navi) was a prerequisite for Triforce bearers.

And… for heroes.

The smile that bloomed caught Sheik off guard. "I get it." He informed him, though he didn't speak of the other-half business (he really did have to work on that. Poor Sheik couldn't read his thoughts, now could he?)

"Don't be ridiculous, Link." Sheik admonished, "In any case, I know you are more stubborn than anyone…"

(… could he?)

Distracted by this very disturbing thought, Link stared.

Sheik's lips kept moving.

"… my offer is up to you."

Link responded in ways most appropriate and telling of his intellect. ("Huh?")

Sheik scolded him for not listening.

… he had been invited to stay the night. In Sheik's dreary quarters. He considered camping in the field, trekking back to Kakariko in the dark, sleeping in the back alleys of Castletown…

Night skies wrapped around his mouth and nose and smothered him.

The loneliness here didn't compare to the kind without someone to share it with him. Saying so in a faint voice, Sheik gave him a sympathetic gaze, and he thought that maybe it wasn't so bad if Sheik didn't love him like he loved music and Zelda and words spoken between two lost souls, but he cared.

He wished for too long for people to care.

"… hey, Sheik? Can I take you up on those questions we talked about earlier…?"

Bemusement reflected with the firelight in red eyes. "We can do whatever you'd like." His host answered in earnest, head cocked, hair falling over his face.

'_Whatever you'd like._' Innocent enough in voice, but…

For some reason he didn't care to feel out, those words made him nervous.

He took in a breath.

"The other night, in Zelda's room… What happened?"

Blessed man, so blessed, Sheik did not waffle or wonder over whys or when's but simply knew, sharp and clear. And he spoke in the same, "It screamed." He sighed, running a hand through his fringe. "During Ganondorf's reign, I fed from monsters… killers… the screams of the damned ones… conditioned a response in me. I hadn't drank in a while."

"… okay. Why do you need blood?"

Sheik choked a bitter laugh. "Monsters are spawned from darkness and sustained on dark's power. Do you know why they attack hylians?"

Link replied that he didn't.

"Its because they need their blood. Well… flesh and blood. The darkness feeds on other magic… and hylians are a wonderful source, since they have weak bodies brimming with it. Weak compared, of course, to the hardy Goron and swift Zora." Sheik sighed. "Something akin to it can be said of sheikah. Our magic feeds from your's, but only your's. That is why I must drink from monsters, or…"

Neither bothered to finish it, rather let it hang between them like a corpse.

"Since monsters feed from your magic, we can feed from them… but it takes more than if…" Half-traced designs had begun to wander his thigh while he spoke, fingers tapping and dragging.

"… does it kill them? When you take the magic."

Sheik chuckled, eyes flashing and making him jolt. "Oh, no. Losing the magic doesn't kill them."

He beckoned Link closer and drew down his scarf, flashing and snapping his teeth. "Magic isn't what kills them," He repeated. "It kills monsters because they are sustained purely on it - it is what holds them together. In theory I could kill a hylian, but that could be attributed to having drunk all the blood trying to get at all the magic. Most often it is… unnecessary. There is a ritual concerning the feeding from hylians…"

"So what happens when you take the magic?" Link asked, tilting his head and resting it in his hands.

"It is dependant on the supply of magic. Say I went and caught the average peasant. They could sleep for days afterwards, even without fully sating me. On the opposite end, say I caught someone with bountiful amounts, not unlike Ganondorf, or… you."

Link didn't think too hard about that.

Raconteur of the evening rolled his shoulders and continued the Q & A. "I would be full-fed and relatively pleasant, whilst leaving my proposed victim in perfect health, if not feeling as if they ran ten laps around Hyrule field."

… huh. Well, Link knew that feeling. The eye of truth left him like that more than once.

With a half-there smile, he thanked his host. A bedroll was tossed his way and he was given the simple order of 'go to sleep before you collapse, Link.'

Which, again for reasons he chose to not feel out, made him feel happy. And a happy Link must drag Sheik into the happiness, perhaps kicking and screaming. "Not coming after my sweet virgin flesh whilst I slumber?"

Sheik snorted. "Hardly. I believe I would take a shriveled up tektite before _you_."

"Hey, now…" He mumbled, settling under the woolen blanket all-but hurled at his head, "don't say that before you've tried one… tektites are pretty tasty…"

Another snort.

"Good night, hero."

The lights were snuffed.

"My name is Link."

* * *

Sheik disappeared early in the morning, leaving no more proof of his existence than a note.

In the curious position of finding himself waking in someone else's room, deep inside a foreign and hostile land, Link remembered a story from Talon to he and Malon as young ones of handsome young prince charming who took girls into inns with strange and rough patrons, promising love and marriage. He often butchered the next part (Ingo was the one who ended up giving Malon the talk about men. He wasn't happy about it.), but it always ended in them taking something from the women and then disappearing before the morning light. And sitting there, then, in such a hostile territory, Link hoped no girl ever had to suffer that injustice.

Then he read the note and found out Sheik had a stash of books, and a few scrolls he'd transcribed for him on the sheikah. Along with locations and express permission to read what he found.

_Yes_.

For the remainder of the morning Sheik was forgotten.

* * *

Hell and high water, Sheik would go off and be insane when he thought Link wasn't looking.

Fucking lunatic.

They ended up sleeping in the woods, because Sheik couldn't go back to the castle that night and Link just wouldn't.

And damn it all, but he didn't want to think about it. Everything in due time and all that drivel, but he didn't want to remember then. He had better things to focus on, like slinking.

… yeah, because he was just so enthralling.

Sheik took a moment, then, to whisper into his ear that, 'oh, Link? Snickering isn't particularly conducive to our current activity.'

Mayhap because they were sneaking into the castle. Images of a fair-haired woman with a stern face, staring him down with arms akimbo flashed through Link's mind as they slipped around the grounds.

Sheik lived deep inside the castle, right in its heart… to be near the king and his daughter… and the empty halls they passed through earlier were not so empty today.

Insistent on keeping some secrets, Sheik had donned a disguise, shoved Link's head into one, and off they went through the corridors.

Today's learning experience was that Sheik had long hair. It swung behind him, a whip the gold of proud lions, bladed tip marking him a manticore. The other learning experience of the day was that Sheik kept dresses -plural- locked up in his quarters.

Link knew, because he was wearing one of them.

That day would be the day he decided he hated skirts.

So he followed behind Sheik - he walked like a noble, no one asked questions - and prayed that none would decide to call out the servant behind the lady.

He would've have been in finer clothes, but they realized the way Link moved would only get him into trouble.

So Link was a handmaid who under no circumstances would talk.

… that part wasn't hard.

And bless the three above, all was going well.

"Hey, you! Wench!"

… One would think he'd have learned by now. All hail pessimism, prepare for a flood and hope for a shower.

He stopped and faced the man.

Sheik paused and refused to turn, listening instead.

An important-looking soldier in armor came up and began to address Link.

"I am a servant of the Duke of Weiss. I require you to retrieve certain items for me…" He carried on a ways, whist poor Link pondered the best escape. His gaze went blank when he retreated to his thoughts.

The man was not-so oblivious of this. "Girl, do you even understand my words?"

Link nodded and averted his gaze.

"Then why have you not bowed? And address me as Sir when I am speaking to you! Are you so insolent to remain silent?"

His hand went for Link's apron.

Red and gold flashed - Sheik had turned and knocked it away. "Do not touch what is mine."

… _Uhm, _wow_, Sheik. _

"She is dumb, sir." His voice came out very quiet, almost a whisper to be lost in the din. "And my personal attendant. Certainly there is a valet de chambre to retrieve whatever it is your retainer requires."

The look on the man's face disagreed. "Certainly not. A man simply is unacceptable-"

Sheik raised an eyebrow, pursing his lips. "Oh, is that the case?" His voice suggested he'd gotten it, perfect and instant. He almost sounded pleased - the pleasure of a wolf who'd corned its lamb, mind you.

Link wondered what it felt like to be the one dressed in white wool.

Sadistic and dark and somehow wonderful, Sheik kept on, "Then I suggest instead of harassing the work of the castle like some common felon, you take your master out. Might I suggest a nunnery?"

The man turned red with ire. "And just who are you to speak to me this way? And to speak so obscenely of my Lord?"

Out of sight, Link brushed his hand over Sheik's back in a way he hoped was calming.

Level as ever, Sheik replied, "I am the Duchess of Tot, Asima."

The man froze.

"Take heed of my words, and leave, or hide in fear from the shadows and the darkness. They will not forgive you." Sheik finished his curse in gentle tones.

At the very least, the man had an idea of what he meant. Offense and apprehension fought a war on his face, and settled into hate.

"M-my lord will not stand for-"

"You harassing young girls in the halls? I should hope so." He tossed his head, braid arching so it scantly missed Link (he moved) and snorted. "Run back to your master and cry to him about what I have done this day." With this final bout of haughtiness, he pressed a hand into Link's back.

"Come along, Schön."

Link presumed that was him.

As soon as they rounded a corner Sheik led them into a library. "If you wish to leave, there is a passage to the garden in back."

"If I wish to stay?" Link asked in a soft voice, only just meeting Sheik's gaze.

"Then you will be Schön for the next few hours." Wry grin stretching up his lips, Sheik turned and wandered the walls of books.

Zelda sat at one, deep in the throes of reading scripture.

Sheik sat down in front of her, picked up one, and gestured Link to stand behind him, slightly to the side.

Later Zelda looked up into the face of Sheik, who had stopped pretending to read five minutes ago, in a dress.

She stared a while. "Why has Duchess Asima deigned to make an appearance in Hyrule, I wonder?"

… _Of course _Zelda was in on this. She probably got the dresses for him.

"Oh, dear Lady, you wound me." Sheik put a hand over his heart and rolled his eyes heavenward. "Surely you know of the young Duke in the castle?"

"Surely." She fettered a sigh. "Have you yet seen him? I am told he has the face of a great fairy."

"… I wouldn't use that as a compliment." Link, who had seen the great fairies, couldn't resist pointing out.

Zelda balked.

Sheik smirked.

Shaking, her gaze dragged itself up to the Hero of Time's. "… Link."

"Schön." They corrected together.

Processing this, she sat back, lacing her fingers in front of her. "… I was wondering who you had with you…" She mumbled.

Link shuffled his feet, a half-echo in the hall of knowledge.

Zelda returned to her scrolls.

After a whispered explanation of why Link could not sit (and an apology), Sheik picked up a map and began marking out points of interest.

Link watched over his shoulder.

… Tot was, apparently, an area in the north-east, Kakariko just within its borders. It was marked out with the color of a bruise, hateful purple. "You know, they say the demon's gate resides in the northeast," Sheik had murmured.

Death Mountain was marked with Venetian red.

The Zora's kingdom didn't consist of one large area but several connected ones, the rivers and lakes and of course their capital, the Domain of Zora. It was marked with rich Prussian blue. This territory, like the Goron's, had no name beyond the one its people gave it.

"Where's the Gerudo fortress?" Link asked in a whisper when Sheik's hand moved past it, to Lake Hylia.

"The desert is considered a wilderness, free of sovereign." Sheik murmured back, red eyes not leaving the map.

The forest was another wilderness.

Hyrule field was under the direct control of the Royal family of Hyrule.

To the southwest, beyond where he'd traveled, was a duchy called Weiss. Marked with pure white, it was a land of mild weather and flowers.

Sheik started moving the chips about and scribbling notes.

Half an hour into this, Navi drifted in.

His fairy had a habit of disappearing and reappearing at random, and when she did, Link wondered how she always found her way back to him.

(The first time she did it he was terrified. Malon spent hours trying to get him to speak, to stop crying. Now it was just… everyday. Sheik's disappearances caused more stress. Loads more, as of late.)

She floated around the table in a languid circle and flew into his hair.

"Link?" She yawned, tugging on a lock.

"Welcome home." He greeted her, eyes flickering towards her light.

Soon after, a servant came to summon Zelda to the throne room.

Lady Asima was to accompany her.

So Link followed at their skirts, feeling like a child (at this realization, any reservations were tossed out the window. Link had never had a mother with skirts to trail after; he'd always wondered how it felt…)

And when they arrived, Link wondered how he didn't notice this man at the ball so many nights ago. The castle was still bustling with activity, foreign guests situated in its quarters. But this one stood out, dressed in a snowy white mantle.

With the aura Sheik gave off, Link figured it out pretty quick.

He didn't want this man anywhere near them.

A few more words revealed it as the before-mentioned duke. He really was beautiful. Cream hair that shone almost-white, blush-dusted skin, soft eyes that spoke volumes of kindness.

He was dressed in white only - soft fabric with the slightest shine, understated elegance to contrast the contemporary style of garish nobility. What looked like a surcoat under a ganache clothed him, the bottoms of white hose poked between embroidered slippers and the surcoat's skirt. Linen sleeves dressed his arms.

The embroidered mantle – the only hint of color, it was edged with gold thread - drifted behind and gave his face a softened look.

Before the King he approached. Link tried not to look too directly at the magistrate.

"Lady Zelda." The soft voice lulled them, gentle as his expression. He pressed a kiss to her hand.

When his eyes caught Sheik's, recognition sparked. "… you… no." He shook his head and smiled. "Could you perhaps be the Duchess Asima?"

Sheik crossed his arms and showed just how unimpressed he was.

The king looked on in disapproval.

Link bit his lip and Zelda closed her eyes, all while Sheik gave hints of perverse pride.

The Hylian in white smiled. "I formally apologize on behalf of my valet. He can be… overzealous."

"Keep a tighter leash on him and consider it forgiven." His tone suggested it would never be forgotten.

He never offered his hand, the man never asked for it.

Link noticed little things like that were common with Sheik. The only resistance he could usually escape unscathed. The other day bad things had gone down, and he figured that much out.

The King spoke with the Duke, while Zelda sat in her chair and listened. Asima became Sheik again and stood behind Zelda's throne in the cast shadow, tucking Link in behind him and giving a look of thunder to anyone who even glanced his way.

Navi, tucked into his bangs and now fully awake, felt the befuddlement overwhelm him like a human might feel the warmth of a fire when they sit before it.

The curious feeling of safety was something he hadn't much experienced.

Curled up beside Saria, listening to her play, many years ago - there he had felt it for the first time. In a warm room in the spare bed, counting stars with a little girl with a smile and a temper on a ranch… again he felt it, safe and at home.

Sometimes, she knew, he had dreams of being curled up in the arms of the mother he'd never had, listening to a lullaby like Zelda's, because he thinks he would've liked a lullaby like that one… just for him.

Little scattered moments like that throughout his existence, disproportionate in their distribution but so fitting of his younger years.

The freshest memory was of waking up choking on pain, coughing, crying… and someone leaning over him, pressing the potion to his lips and rubbing his throat to make him swallow while they hushed him.

Someone who kept the night from swallowing him while he hovered between death and reality.

Walls of creeping darkness loomed between those memories, walls smeared with dark green stains and slime and carved with the suffering of souls. Tombstones poked in and out of the walls with the skulls, held together with mortar as brick would be.

Memories of fear and sadness and suffering. Their color was born from the shadow temple and the bottom of the well and really, Navi often wondered how he managed to be fearless enough to venture back inside of those places for Sheik.

Some part of Link loved him, she reflected. The part that loved all of his friends and let him move for their sakes, because often he couldn't move for himself.

(She wished that would change.)

And now again he felt safe. Having played the hero for so long, the protector instead of the protected, he felt so strange about it.

On top of it all, he didn't know what he was being protected from.

Navi didn't know, either, but she trusted Sheik - because that _was_ Sheik, in the dress. That was Sheik trying to set fire by his ire and gaze alone.

She resolved to catch him and ask about that - all of that - later.

At present time, she'd sit back and watch the Hylian court put on a show.

…

Diplomacy games were redundant and dull, and for a while Navi dozed in Link's hair while Sheik flashed his fangs at every glance toward Link. Link, in turn, got tired and standing and slumped forward until his forehead touched the space between Sheik's shoulder blades, and Sheik almost leapt a foot in the air.

Zelda was trying her very best not to yawn and follow Navi to the land of half-concious when her father requested she escort the Duke to the dining hall.

Sheik in drag- _Lady Asima_ naturally followed her. In turn Schön followed Lady Asima.

Free of the stare of the King as they meandered down the halls, Zelda and the Duke of Weiss chatted in amiable tones. He enquired about… strange things, really.

Link had heard nobles speak before. He had spoken to his own fair share, though naturally they talked of different things to him then they did with other nobles.

The Duke, who introduced himself as Hell, was asking about the townspeople, the servants… how they were treated.

And when he ascertained that it wasn't uncommon for Zelda to speak to the servants without great condescension, he did the same. When they reached the dining hall, he turned to Link and asked his name.

Of course, Link could not answer - lest he be found out - and so 'Asima' was forced to answer for him.

It was done only after a sharp look over the Duke's shoulder from Zelda.

"… Schön. That is very fitting name." He smiled, leaning down so they were eye level. (For a hylian, Link was rather short. Whenever Sheik brought this up, Link would point out that until recently Sheik had been shorter than him. Sheik would then display his superior maturity and tell him to shut up.) His hand came up and waved a finger.

Link gave it a glance before returning his gaze to the man's face, quirking a brow.

"You do not seem slow to me. Perhaps a malady of the throat?"

_Heh. _

Link and Sheik coughed in tandem.

"It was lovely to meet you all. I do hope we can maintain good relations." A few more formal farewells had him on his way into the room.

A man in black followed.

Zelda watched with a curious gaze. Sheik ignored it completely.

"Shall we retire to my quarters?" The young Lady offered, turning to Sheik.

Link felt so left out.

"If it pleases you, majesty."

Sometimes he wondered just how much vitriol Sheik could physically fit in a word. (And sometimes he was jealous.)

Cocking his head to the side, Link continued to trail after them. Sheik became irritated at some point with this – he'd probably been irritated for a while, actually – and paused just long enough to snatch Link's arm and haul him close enough to walk beside him. Link swallowed so his abused heart could return to his ribcage where it belonged, and Sheik refused to let go – for the better, since Link would've been gone in a second.

Quarters weren't the word for what Zelda had. She had more of… a well-sized house within castle walls.

Door shut and ladies-in-waiting banished (minus two Asima and Schön) Zelda slumped over at her desk and demanded of Sheik to explain a great mystery of life.

"Why do women wear skirts?"

He did not disappoint. "Sadomasochistic ideals of beauty."

Link concurred.

Zelda sighed and told them to 'sit down before you fall down.' (Sheik was rubbing off on her. Impa had rubbed off on him.) This attained, she announced her intention of changing from her cumbersome layers of air-tight glitter and made off for the next room.

Glancing between the window and the ceiling, Link sighed. "… so. Zelda's in on this."

"Of course."

"Tot is a real place."

"Yes."

"… every once in a while you don a dress and pretend to be its Duchess."

"That is about the essence of it, yes."

"… You live a complicated life, Sheik."

"You have no idea." His half-exasperated voice was melodious, if only to Link's tired ears.

They exchanged wry smiles.

"You know, you make a very pretty girl." Link stated in an absent voice.

A hand fluttered to Sheik's fake chest. "Well. I'm flattered that you think so, Schön."

_Ouch. _

With a sigh, he relinquished his imaginary pride. "The more I learn about you, the scarier you get."

"The more you've learned about me the more comfortable you've grown." Sheik pointed out, tone a little reserved.

Blue eyes flicked to him. "… I didn't mean… Sorry, Sheik."

The sheikah blinked and twisted his lips.

Relative silence settled over the room, broken only by a bird singing outside the window and someone in the garden briefly shrieking bloody murder about… cabbages, it sounded like. It ceased just before Zelda glided back in. "There is a formal dinner tonight to welcome our guests - of course; you'll recall I invited you, Link?"

Ah-ha… no. No he didn't.

"And, of course, you're here now." Sheik stated with a swirl of his hand for the ceiling.

… _Hell. _

"Weren't you complaining about this last time?" Link protested.

"Hmm? Oh, yes, I was. But now is different. Now I know you will be suffering with me and perhaps - well, look at it this way; you can be my date. Provided our fair Lady doesn't snatch you up."

Wide-eyed and wishing so forlornly to protest, Link stared.

Plaintively against his wishes, the scene kept unfolding.

"He's all your's." Zelda put in with her usual sweetness.

Of all the reviling….

"After all, what's a date or two between friends?"

From then on, Link understood why Sheik hid his face. His smiles were nothing short of demonic.

* * *

"I am not comfortable with this."

"Link. Do you see this thing wrapped around my waist? It is called a corset. Do not talk to me about discomfort."

He acquiesced because really, it looked quite painful. Squinting at it, he directed a question to the man styling his hair. "Why do you wear it?"

"To make my waist smaller and more ladylike." Sheik continued pulling back his hair. Link twitched at the fingers brushing over his roots.

"Does it have to be out of my face? I like it there…"

"My deepest apologies." Sheik leant over his shoulder to connect their gazes, lips quirked in sympathy. Both eyes were visible. "But it is required, for formality as well as a preventive measure."

… huh?

"It keeps one's hair from the food and food from one's hair." He elaborated, pressing free clothes into Link's hands. "I will step out. Please avoid messing my effort, lest we repeat this endeavor."

Recalled horror made Link obey.

He gazed at cold stone and dressed, leaving to find Sheik against the wall and, defying all laws of being a woman (as Zelda would later state) ready to depart for the hall.

Zelda would also later lecture Sheik that even the biggest dullard in the kingdom wouldn't believe his drag show if he only took minutes to dress.

One expectant look later (and… maybe Sheik grabbing his arm and making it move the way he wanted it to. Maybe.) and their arms were hooked together. They were off.

Gazing at Sheik at the corner of his eye - dressed up as a young Duchess, with solemn painted features and hair pinned back - he found himself wondering how the Sheikah managed to stay sane.

He could live in the shadows, protect the princess, pretend to be this duchess - all at once? Toss on top the recently neglected fact of his vampiric tendencies. Looking at someone so impressive, Link found he wasn't afraid at all.

Consideration of his earlier words was in order. Shadows were scary - ambiguous and ever-changing, deceitful. Monsters hid away in shadows.

Monsters weren't so scary were you could see them. The dripdripdrip of rain from the roof in the afternoon was far less disconcerting than the dripdripdrip in a gloomy tomb.

Outlined and painted by the sun, shadows became people and places and words.

Of course, only dark things chose to hide in the shadows - one would think this, initially, but…

In the war, where did Zelda go? She blotted herself out with night's cloak…

And of course, his guide almost always arrived fresh and dressed in shadow.

Maybe good things could hide in the dark, too.

* * *

AN

Crazy, dramatic drag queen sheik is crazy.

Hell means "bright" in German.

Weiss means "white"

Tot means "dead"

And Elfenlied means "elf song"… wait. What does this have to do with the story?

Apparently they keep monster corpses in the castle's meat cellar. (Mm, tektite.)

Vampirical things are taking a back seat at the moment, I'm afraid. BTW, yes, I know the sunlight kills thing is added to vampire myth in the last few hundred years, but to be fair, back then the myth was still of a hideous putrid corpse (deadhand?) who's smell was terrible you fainted or fled immediately upon its presence, not some super sexy smooth talker. Also, it might strangle you to death before biting (instead of all this weird contemporary I bite you, you become a vampire crap. You would grow weak and often die and MIGHT come back as a vampire. Maybe.)

The sleeping isn't actually because of magic loss, but because of blood loss. Here the blood magic is in terms of, say, mixing sugar into water. Lets suppose its all perfectly even in its distribution. The more sugar (magic) in the water, the less Sheik drinks. The less Sheik drinks, the less time his victim needs to recover lost blood.

For anyone curious about the comment on nunneries Sheik made, it could be taken in one of two ways, both insulting - the man needs to find religion, or more likely in this scenario, he could be speaking of a brothel house. And it is a nod to the Bard of Avon, who's more popular works I tend to dislike.

General story notes:

I wanted to make Sheik's title Duchess of Schwarz, since that means black and would directly oppose the duke's 'white', but regretfully Tot was a better fit.

On corsets - they should never hurt. If they hurt they're on wrong/fitted wrong/or otherwise, but something is WRONG.

Sheik's just not comfortable with certain… restraining qualities.

On the Shadow temple

The day I wrote this I beat Bongo bongo. I ran out of arrows after injuring him once. (I kept missing even with the hover boots.) I had three bottled fairies that I didn't want to waste, a strong desire to not retrace my steps to the boss chamber, and some serious pent up aggression. I set my jaw, equipped my longshot, and killed that mother (bleep)… I sat on the couch for about ten seconds, realizing the relieved rush of happiness. Then I jumped up onto the cushions, double fist-pumped and bellowed for the house (and my disturbed relatives) at large "Muhahahaha! _I WIN!_"

… stop staring at me, you know you've done this.


	4. The rule rather than the exception

**Iblis, the duke, and any other original characters in here are copyrighted to me. **

**...**

**Chapter 4: Self-condemnation and over-compensation (are the rule rather than the exception)**

Let it never be said that Sheik was not a patient man.

(He wasn't, but that was not the point striving to be made here)

Link firmly mired in suffering at his side, he sat through hours of socializing-cum-swordplay.

Rumors were fierce, since just a few nights ago Link had been escorting Lady Zelda.

He was patient, had waited and waited and waited for a hero to emerge. Seven years of his life, for one he wasn't even sure would come at all.

The boy he'd met running through the graveyard, just a little kid…

(With some annoyance he recalled the other boy who he'd met in the graveyard. The one a certain Hero sold a mask to.)

He'd been sitting on a ledge when a person walked in. Light steps over the grass and cobble, into the dreary resting place.

They stopped in front of the last row.

Above the Shadow temple loomed, watching.

With uninterested eyes, he watched the boy awaken the Poe brothers. Still detached, he watched them batter his little body.

Aloofness took a backseat when the boy pulled a sword - no more than a long knife to his elder - and parried the lanterns, snaked it through half-there shadows of souls.

Head tilted up, facing away from his grigori, he watched the Poe both crumble and transcend after spilling a final secret.

They both watched their lanterns go out and the remnants of their lives disappear.

Then the child pulled out a little green ocarina and played.

One certain lullaby.

He found a sudden and powerful interest in the boy's exploits.

Snaking down from the cliff, he approached the fresh open crypt.

Coming back out, the one he was waiting for was battered and dirty with slime smeared over his face. His tunic was torn. Sheik's first look at Link was not an impressive sight.

Then Link brought the ocarina back up to his lips and played.

Sheik offered him lodging for the night.

* * *

When they met again, Link was nursing a scraped knee. Sheik had found himself wondering whether all his meetings with the outsider were destined to be laced with antiseptic.

He learned then, that Link was from the forest.

Link told him with bright, excited eyes and muted words, of a forest where only children lived…

He told him, with faded shine, of a great tree who watched over them and a girl he loved very dearly named Saria, though love was not the word he used.

And Sheik told him about night birds, and magic, and how falling stars faded faster.

(Link thought that was funny.)

* * *

The next time they met, Impa was there. She disappeared before Link could see her.

Sheik found out just who the outsider was.

With some melancholy, he realized the matter at hand.

An errand boy for the King's daughter. Once he completed his task he would disappear from the muted world where they resided.

After that they didn't see each other again for a very long time.

Sheik grew to hate blue eyes.

* * *

The world's muted colors switched to autumn - the only time the colors were allowed to scorch and flame. Faded blue he resented was replaced by magnificent, scarring red.

Rivers of it washed from the heavens and battered him as a doll.

Light faded from his vision. His legs grew weak and he found himself on his knees, always.

Zelda was ephemeral.

Her elegant broken body trapped between the sky and so-hated earth by his trembling hands, the skin of her beautiful neck, split. He drank in the crying evanescent soul. Over the body he wove a spell of breath, stole it away to hide in the darkness.

Then he ripped apart the fools responsible.

That was, of course, how he met Ganondorf.

Depraved bastard he was, stepping up to see the corpses of his minions and the purple dyed hands of a murderous shade.

He applauded. He thought it droll.

He offered Sheik a place in the maelstrom.

Zelda's heart cried out against it.

His knees touched the tainted cobble. Blond hair kissed the dirt.

* * *

Ganondorf found his hair an oddity. Constantly touching it, tilting it under the firelight.

He stated, with some delight, that it reminded him of the little girl from the courtyard…

Sheik felt sick - he told him so. Kept going about how he so detested the memory of the royal family that kept him in bondage.

Ganondorf got another laugh out of it.

(_He_ thought it funny, too - he had changed his chains as one might old bandages.)

The sickening part was he hadn't lied.

Inside of his heart, Zelda let out another soft cry.

* * *

When he was fifteen, Ganon had brought the level of making monsters to an art form.

Something completely new - a spell to draw out darkness. In the case of one without darkness… something to create it.

An antimatter.

They wondered would happen to one only made of darkness.

Sheik met his that day. It radiated light.

Ganondorf was pleased.

Sheik hated it.

* * *

Sitting about as a useless thing, he hated it all the more. It was reminding him of everything he couldn't have.

There in the corner, radiating, it was his false moon and a mirror to shatter.

But he was clever, and found it use soon enough.

Zelda's body was still hidden away and frozen in time.

In the darkness of the graveyard he fused the light with the corpse.

Somewhere between where it had been and where it should be, a doll sat on the floor. Its face was caught betwixt his and Zelda's. It wasn't… entirely human.

It would do.

He ripped the soul from his.

Blue eyes again met red.

Looking at the lighter shade of sky, he remembered why he'd begun to hate the color.

* * *

Their bodies could fuse. Probably not for long, likely to fade in time as Zelda overtook the shell.

It was an accident. A complete accident… a convenient one.

Zelda hid away in his heart again until he had the chance to bring her far away. Tucked away in the capable hands of a fire-haired noble was where Sheik left her.

Zelda told him, betwixt the tears and the screams, that she hated him.

He figured he deserved it.

The next few years weren't so different than if he'd been a regular sheikah - sneaking, spying, often killing. The frequency of the killing was the major variant.

And, of course, what he didn't do - that was a gaping chasm of difference. Always little things. Lost information here, a village warned before the fire there… the poison not all drained from the King's goblet. Just enough to make his stomach turn.

He sat in the shade above Ganon's throne, long legs pulled up to his chest, perched as a twisted songbird.

Whispers spread in the hellfire of the Great King's murderous pet. Red-eyed beast, with fangs and claws, that could fly through the night…

People were so dramatic.

He drug the blade over another dramatic person's throat. He made it deep and quick, because Ganondorf liked people to suffer, and fading so fast left little to feel.

Rubies spilled out under his fingers.

* * *

The witches were suspicious of him. He didn't like them, they didn't like him.

Their dislike spawned from his attitude towards Twinrova.

Specifically her mammary attributes.

To top it off, they were suspicious he was gay.

He decided that at four hundred, senility had finally set in. It was convenient.

Leading them on was a bit more taxing. His palate had no taste for the wine, his eye no desire for the beauty. The splendor of life afforded to him at the top was meaningless.

_Often, he found himself hoping it would end - the war, his life, something. Anything. _

He didn't even care, one way or the other, for the hands running over his body.

His mind drifted far while his body reacted. Faceless lovers kept fading, just as the flickering stars he spoke of to a boy so long ago.

* * *

There was a traitor in the ranks. One Sheik had taken to bed, more than once. They weren't particularly close, but he wasn't a terrible person. He had family, he'd told Sheik, and working for Ganondorf kept them alive and fed. They wanted him to come home to them.

Of course, when he was caught trying to break a barrier, it was brought up. That he might have done it before… and he had. He had shattered the Shadow barrier, Farore knows how.

He never could have done it on his own.

"Sheik! Sheik must have aided the traitor!"

It wasn't as if it would have been the first time he'd betrayed a retainer, or so they reasoned.

He told them, in his most level tone, that they were incorrigibly wrong.

Ganondorf, being the man he was, sat back with steepled fingers and chuckled. All was a game to him.

He came up with a perfectly wonderful idea, entertaining and productive at once. Immediately smitten with it, he pronounced judgment.

"Kill him, Sheik."

Sheik stared into the face of the King.

* * *

The next time he saw Zelda, she had grown older. Her face was still between what it should be and what his was.

She looked into his eyes and cried soulless.

Wanting to disagree but left with nothing to say, he settled a hand over the scar on her throat. She flinched away from his fingers, his always-red fingers and sobbed.

He wondered if sensualism really did murder the soul.

There was enough evidence for it - the King sat huddled in the cells of Ganon's citadel, with cold eyes that refused to look at him even before the final year.

He spirited the Lady away, far away.

The greater fay would be the next to shelter her.

* * *

On the dawn of his eighteenth year, he wondered when the prescribed hero would wake. He wondered often in the first years, daily even. He wondered about a world with color other than static red and illumination from something besides hellfire.

He remembered his dear moon and lovely golden sun, forbidden to him though it was. He closed his eyes and felt the phantom warmth of its caress.

He remembered Impa sitting beside him and teaching him songs, to play, to sing for the night's audience.

From her lessons he had taught Link how to breathe.

He wondered over the Hero who could bring it all back, selfless and mighty and brave.

(He never once considered it would be a kind hero, for how could he expect the hero to be kind? Who with such might and sufferance spawned from the suffering could be kind?)

Days faded with the unseen sunset - dark clouds spiraled and conspired to hide him from his forbidden fruit.

He wondered less about the hero and more about what he could do. What he should do. To wait for a hero that would never come, or…

His fingers curled around the serrated knife.

It wouldn't have been the first time…

* * *

His loyalty was unquestioned. He was Ganondorf's favorite, marked with a collar. It made sense, really, since he was but a pet.

Only outside the castle could he cover it, but he could never take it off. It was the proof. Ganon owned him.

Again his soul forfeit, Sheik fingered the collar. Rough and fine at once, cutting against his neck. It hurt him.

… Not enough.

He wished it was a garrote.

* * *

Sun fell and rose in quick succession.

It burnt him as fire, blinding reflections from the ice froze the light in his eyes.

Atop Zora's domain, he again watched his world end.

The weight of hell settled in his gut when he left the realm of ice.

Even more redeads had settled in the square. The Occult man was delighted at the freshest emergence of Poe, greeting Sheik and his catch with a dark smile that drowned any concept of fear.

Paid and ever-unsatisfied, Sheik left and wondered, as shrill screaming echoed behind him, what the old bat actually did with the ghosts.

Ganondorf grabbed the collar when he came close enough, his customary method of manipulating Sheik to where he wanted him.

He was sat at the base of the throne.

Dead eyes gazed, bored, threatening, to the man who quivered and looked from him to the king while he spoke.

Ganon petted Sheik's hair as one might pet a hound, smirking and leaning his head on his fist.

Whatever the man did or didn't want, he was denied.

Orders fell to him to escort their guest out.

Sheik brought him to the front door. _Of course. _

They discovered with some dismay that the front step dropped off to lava.

Sheik aimed and hoped the man could fly.

* * *

… a few ribs were probably broke, maybe some mental scaring. Likely a phobia of strong blonds. He'd be fine.

Sheik considered this, twirling a bit of hair.

Ganondorf wasn't happy. Sheik apologized and promised to practice harder, lest he overshoot again.

He sighed and gazed out the window.

Light blossomed in the city.

A sword was held up in defiance to him, the light he was denied spilling without reservation over the stranger.

The sun's blood lit his face and made Sheik remember something from very long ago.

They spoke and, as illusions must when seen through, he disappeared. To his credit, the hero did not dawdle long - though a fruitless search was led in the barren temple where time didn't matter.

It was terrible, really. He had always figured that boy had died. He had hoped, sometimes, that he had made it back to that secret place in the forest, and knew nothing of the tumultuous outside. The constant of thunderheads who refused to yield rain…

He hated it. A child who was supposed to be an eternal light was actually a star brightening to supernova.

Fast and scalding.

He would set the world on fire, just as Ganon had, incinerating every obstacle in his path. He would obliterate, and transmute it to a phoenix.

And when Ganondorf and the rest of his world had been reduced to ash, the supernova would fade to inexistence.

He fingered a dagger.

It wouldn't have been the first time.

* * *

Rumors flew as shattered glass, falling around the room with the same grace.

Sheik kept touching the butter knife and sighing.

Link could relate. He tried eating politely - Zelda had given him lessons, Sheik had smacked his fingers during those lessons, but he still lacked a certain grace - and not staring, and did his best to reply when addressed.

(Sheik had answered for him a few times. And scared away a few overly insistent conversationalists.)

The King sat at the head of the table of course, and refused to so much as glance in their direction. He spoke at length with the Duke of Weiss, both glancing to Zelda on occasion. Link tried to edge the knife away from Sheik, who had noticed the moment it started.

Other guests spoke to Sheik, albeit nervously. Darunia was an odd presence at the table and an exception the rule, greeting Link with his usual warmness and chatting, very comfortably, with the drag queen.

Link wondered if he knew.

They were talking about music now, something that made Sheik relax and Link could keep up with. "… the sheikah use stringed instruments, traditionally, but in Kakariko percussion instruments are also long-used."

"Yes, I recall a tale that our ancestors met and traded songs with the first villagers." Darunia replied in an amiable voice, gesturing to the hall. "Sounded like a real, wild party. Nothing like these." the last words were of conspiration, gesturing to the room at large where, indeed, the party was quite refined. And very dull.

Technically it was a dinner.

Sheik smirked back, looking like the devil himself. "Indeed. If only they could just put out the red throw and be done with it."

"It's never that easy, Asima." Darunia snorted. "Usually this much fuss is for a reason. Suppose the King is trying to make a strong impression, though I couldn't imagine why unless…" He hummed.

Another glance to the King showed him addressing Zelda, at his side, and then the Duke on his other.

"You think he might want to betroth the Duke to Zelda?" Link mumbled, biting his lip.

Darunia gave him an appreciative glance.

He always was a smart kid.

"She is well past the age." Sheik said it so calmly, conversationally, that Link could almost believe he wasn't twirling the butter knife in front of his breast.

"But he's kind of… old for her." Link pointed out.

"On the contrary, the Duke is very young. It is rather uncommon for one to be in power at his age." Sheik replied, still fondling the blade.

Darunia scooted in a such a way that he could move to restrain him. To Link it looked it might be necessary quite soon.

The King stood at the head and with his usual regal pleasure, announced that the Duke would be staying whilst he looked for a suitable Lady in the courts.

Sheik had to be restrained.

* * *

"I'm fine, Link, really." His insistence was not reassuring. Link continued to walk.

"You need to get out of town for awhile."

"We've been here but two days."

"I just call it as I see it." He informed the man slung over his shoulder, hastily dressed and a bit homicidal.

"And where do you suggest we go?"

"Wasn't really thinking about it when I grabbed you." He admitted, bringing up the hand not holding Sheik to run through his bangs.

He meandered through Castletown and down a side alley before releasing the very irritable Sheikah.

"You didn't have to carry me you know." He huffed, crossed his arms, and looked very much like a petulant teenager.

"… sorry." Link tried hard not to laugh. "Walk with me?"

Sheik raised a brow. "Not worried I'll go at your virgin flesh in a dark alley?"

… hm. "Yeah, now that you mention it. But I should warn you - I was scarfing down garlic at that dinner. I must reek of it. Not the most appetizing meal."

"Oh, well then."

Liar.

They shared a short laugh and meandered down the back street.

Scars of silver in the night guided their path, moon almost-devoured by its shade.

Harmony and balance.

Their steps fell to tandem. Link twirled and sidestepped in idle tune, tilting his head so his ears better caught the music drifting in.

Just beyond the alley's mouth young lovers twirled and held each other to the notes of a lute.

Sheik twisted his lips up in a wry grin.

Link, meandering about as he was, didn't catch it.

"You know, Zelda was saying just the other day that you would have to learn to dance. After all, when one attends so many formal parties…"

Link looked back. Sheik had his devil-grin on.

"… erm…"

"Come here."

A dubious stare, "… and why would I go over there?" Quoth the nervous hero, for Sheik had a look of deviousness about him.

His eye glittered in the night. Rare-seen teeth flashed white as bleached bone and sharp as shattered ones. Hair fell about his face, sharpening and softening the harsh shade of night.

"Do it."

Whispering too dark and painted wicked, his words carried more weight than a crashing wave.

And so he stepped up, for what mortal could deny Sheik when he wanted something?

(He'd ask Zelda later. Hopefully she'd know.)

Sheik took up his hands and placed them as he'd seen men place their hands on their partners when they waltzed.

Those hands rested on him, then, and they began to move.

… Sheik put up with his trampled feet without complaint. But it wasn't as if it didn't _hurt_.

He did his best to get them to a point where they simply did not murder one another's toes. That rhythm found, dancing was much simpler (and far less painful).

(Later, Sheik would admit that lute music and a dark alley weren't the best environment to teach the waltz in. Link would agree and say something of the cramped quarters, and apologize for when he'd tripped over that pile of rubbish and brought Sheik down on him. Zelda would walk in at completely the wrong time, stand in the doorway, and look scandalized.)

"You know, sooner rather than later your absence will be questioned." Sheik murmured, taking the two steps away to the wall, where he settled.

True mystification alighted Link's features. "Why?"

A short laugh, "You are the hero, Link."

"Am not." Link mumbled, frowning and crossing his arms.

Sheik canted his head. "You're pouting."

"I'm scowling." He protested, eyes getting bigger, bottom lip jutting further out.

"If you say so."

Link moved a foot further into the shade. "I do-"

Sheik leaned forward over his crossed arms with eyes agleam-

Someone coughed from the alley's mouth.

They both turned their heads to look.

"Am I interrupting?" Impa asked, cocking her head with typical dryness.

"Uh… Just an argument. Sheik said I was pouting, I said I wasn't." Link answered in a perturbed tone, pursing his lips.

Not convinced of this obvious truth, Impa stood back and firmly absorbed the sight of the Hero of Time and her nephew in a dark alley, with less than a breath between them.

"… I see."

Skepticism ran in the family.

"In any case, the Duke was asking about a servant named Schön." Her tale began very calm and un-accusing.

They both balked.

She continued the narrative heedless, ending with, "… and so he was told, after having asked all about the castle, that we don't have a servant by that name."

… heh.

"When I caught wind of it, I began to wonder if you two perhaps knew something."

All silence, shameful silence.

"… um… maybe you couldn't find her because she is the attendant of Lady Asima?" Link offered.

Sheik pressed himself into the wall in a futile attempt to disappear.

Impa raised a brow. "Oh, I see." Then she stared at them, just to get that point well and truly across. She _saw_. Shameful callow youths that they were… "Well then, with that mystery resolved, Zelda would like to know when you'll be returning to the castle."

_When Sheik's not ready to maim everyone with the silverware_. Link wondered if that was an appropriate response.

"We will make our return in the morning, if that is acceptable, Impa." Voice very smooth, Sheik stepped away from him to flourish and bow.

"It is." Impa replied in a stern voice, "Shortly after dawn I expect to see you - both of you. Sleep well tonight." She walked off again, fading between the lights and darks of the town.

Link watched after, even knowing he wouldn't catch another glimpse.

Moments fell to silence and lost themselves to the shadows of town.

"… Where would you like to go?" Sheik asked.

Link hummed.

* * *

In retrospect, sleeping in the field probably wasn't the best idea.

Link sighed and stretched out, giving an idle stare to the stalchildren milling about the trunk. They moaned and grunted and clawed like a dogs after the moon.

"You know, there's a grotto around here." He said to Sheik, who cracked open his eye.

"… you know, I think I was already asleep." Muttered the less than happy sheikah.

"Sorry. Just thought it might be safer."

"Then perhaps you should have mentioned it before we were chased up the tree."

"How did you fall asleep?" Link demanded, pursing his lips in disbelief.

"Come here." Sheik moved over, so there was enough space for two in the cradle of the boughs.

So he did, laying pressed in beside the sheikah, and felt horrible awkwardness overtake him.

Typical defiance on his part, Sheik didn't feel any of it. "I fell asleep like this." He closed his eyes and drifted back off.

Link really would've liked to wake him back up, completely wake him, so he could feel it too, but he didn't. instead he looked to the sky, where moon peaked out between autumn leaves.

It too told him to shut up and sleep.

* * *

The scream of a rooster had him wind-milling his arms and attempting to fly forth from the tree like he himself was a cucco.

Sheik caught him by the collar. "This is why I didn't want you sleeping on that branch." He informed the still flailing hero.

"… Uh, yeah. Okay. Thanks." he mumbled, still not all-there.

He was hauled back into the relative safety of the boughs. Recollections of Impa and the promise they'd made her came over him while he looked at the rosy hues of sunrise. When he turned to bring the matter to Sheik he found him ready to depart.

Town square was abrim with people, loud and colorful and scary.

Sheik was curious to find moments after this realization, that he had a hero pressed against his side.

Another wave of boisterous life rolled past.

He twitched and pressed back because _Farore_, Link had it right trying to hide, there was no space to be found anywhere and didn't these people have any other place to _be? _

"I really don't like crowds." Link mumbled, barely-there in the din of the market.

"Ha. Funny." Because he shared the sentiment.

Sheik began leading them through the square. Glancing about, he found that they were all clamoring to see something… An old woman in their path looked up and gasped, pointing her cane to Sheik's face.

She shuddered and hissed.

Some of the din around them fell to curious stares and disapproving glares when the townspeople looked away from whatever captivated.

"Sheikah." Like the bane of light and existence.

It picked up around them, accusing and questioning, like curses and confusion.

This was going to go down hill very quickly.

They took off once the first curse was thrown.

Once they bypassed the gates - they made it up the ledge where Link had climbed as a child - and halfway through the castle field, Link stopped.

"What was that about?" He demanded in a soft voice, intense stare boring into Sheik's.

"I… I'm uncertain. Since our numbers have dwindled… there hasn't been such open hostility in years." Sheik confessed, slumping just a little and allowing himself to learn into the hands on his shoulders. He mumbled something to himself, so quiet Link only caught his voice.

Open?

"Why were they like that?"

"Hylians have always feared us." Sheik ran a hand through his hair, a habit he'd picked up from a certain fairy boy. "We are their protectors, but we also…"

"… oh. Right." He mumbled, closing his eyes. "I'm sorry. If I wasn't here you could've just…"

"Its fine." Sheik dismissed.

"Its not-"

"Link." He paused, and Sheik pressed a finger to his mouth. "Shut up." He did an about-face and again made for the castle with a call of 'we're going to be late'.

Link sprinted after him and felt like old times.

* * *

"… you know, I heard that young noble went into the town to day…"

"Oh, yes, that one? No one knows much…" Idle gossip between servants faded in and out of their ears on the way to the courtyard.

Zelda was watching dragonflies on flowers and Impa was watching where they entered.

The Lady greeted them warm as ever, going into all the pleasantries, sharp foil to Impa who jumped straight to matters.

"When Darunia came, he mentioned problems in the Dodongo's cavern. Gorons wandering off and the feeling of eyes on them when they enter." She'd rattled off, arms crossed over her chest. "Last night, news came that more had gone missing. Darunia left immediately. A message of his requesting aid arrived scant moments before you did."

"As you predicted," Zelda murmured faintly to her attendant, turning her gaze to them. "Sheik. There seems to be something very wrong here…"

"… and its in my field of expertise," He finished for her, sharp eyes catching every move.

It really was - Link almost always knew the danger going in, the place before scoped out by someone more suited to stealth. As for monsters, a rare day it was when he had to discover it as well as cut it up.

Zelda bit her lip and looked more troubled than before. "… I would like you to go with him, Link." She confessed, harried, turning to the jolted hero.

"Absolutely not." Sheik interjected, at the same time as Link's, "I will."

Naturally. He'd clasped Zelda's hand and nodded.

Simplicity not something he aspired to, Sheik glared fire and brimstone. "No. Absolutely no."

"You can't stop me, Sheik."

"Can't stop you-I-This is a bad idea - Impa, please back me up here!"

"Zelda. Sheik is more than capable of handling himself…"

Sheik sighed in relief.

A faint smirk crossed her features. "… but nevertheless, I would also be more comfortable if Link accompanied."

Sheik stared. Vile, twisted, evil… "… fine." His murmur, displeased and faint, was all that was necessary.

"Bags have been prepared for both of you." Zelda told them with a relieved smile, and Sheik realized he'd never had a case to decide.

Enter now the realm of excessive unhappy.

His irritation (per the usual) faded when she pressed a kiss to his cheek. "Come back safe. Both of you." She demanded in a soft murmur, replacing his cowl.

Impa reappeared - because apparently she had left - and handed them their bags, laying a hand on both of their heads. "You have the eyes that see and the ears that hear. Listen to what the world has to say and see through the cloak of night." Quoth she with solemn demeanor.

Lady and guardian gave their well wishes and saw the heroes off.

Sheik waited, very patiently, until they were well out into the field.

Once safely delivered from civilization, he delivered a brutal punch to Link's bicep.

"Ow!"

"This is your fault." Sheik hissed.

Link gave him a hurt look. "Am I so unwanted?" He asked, and Sheik gave another hiss, this time a clear 'yes'.

Ouch. He glanced away and pressed his lips together, and for the next five minutes did accurate portrayal of a kicked pup.

It didn't pass notice, and like any poor fool who kicks a pup by misguided intention, Sheik began to regret.

When he could no longer take the behavior persisted he swore. "Link! I… apologize…"

_Way to sound like you're pulling teeth there, Sheik._  
"-but I simply could not forgive myself if anything should befall you."

… _can you repeat that, only loud? _

While Link looked at him, still taken aback, he refused to return gaze. "I'll be fine. This isn't exactly the first time I've done this." He reminded with a light smile.

Sheik made a remark about mood swings, which he chose to ignore being the mature adult he was.

"I am aware, but that does not mean my heart was not in my throat with every temple." Sheik informed him, grumpy, and turned to glare.

"Actually, I wasn't talking about the temples, I was talking about the- … wait. Elaborate on that last part?"

"I was aware that you were no stranger to adventure?"

"No, the other part."

"There was no other part."

"Yes there was. You said something about your heart being in your throat-"

"No I didn't."

_I thought sheikah couldn't lie_, Link thought with little smile. He echoed it aloud.

Sheik twitched. "Alright, fine. I may have been… worried."

"Even at the forest temple?" He pressed.

Cue the sigh of the long-suffering sheikah, "Even then." Admitted him, and slanted Link an exasperated smile as if admitting no true annoyance.

"But… we'd only just met." With that, he concluded Sheik was weird. (… Yes, it really took him that long.)

As evidence to the previous claim, Sheik chuckled. "You don't recognize me?"

"You're Sheik." Link pointed out deadpan.

Another, wider smile of humor stretched over his face.  
"Link. I suppose you won't remember, but shooting stars fade faster."

Link's eyes widened and he stopped, turning to face directly the Shadow.

"… you." He mumbled, then laughed, "You. Oh, Farore… I'm an idiot."

Sheik touched his shoulder and didn't disagree, moving and making Link move with him.

Ahead the stairs loomed.

* * *

Once they had gotten to town, Link, being Link, had branched off to visit Dampé.

Exasperated - _haven't you had _enough_ of the undead?_ - and all-too used to dealing with Link's bouts of irrational niceness - 'bouts' being a loose term for all day, every day - Sheik just made sure he remembered that little nondescript house in the village.

He really had come here to talk, but he knew he was the only one to visit, and he knew just what a kick the elder got from a race so he obliged and took to the corridors in pursuit.

Only on his best days could he keep pace with Dampé, and lately he was far from his best - he followed the blue foxfire, dancing around it when it burst into life right at his breast. He obliged the ghost lights that led him down a corridor that didn't quite seem right…

Oh, no.

No.

Ahead of him, the redeads shrieked to life.

…

He woke up in a place devoid of sky, or ground, or breath, and yet he was breathing.

There was no light but he could see all the colors of his skin and clothes and bag…

The void shifted. He looked up and saw a dark spectre with pale grey skin.

"Its you again…" His breath lit up the place as flame and the Tuscan red eyes burnt away the false-shade between them.

Light pulsed from his glossy mane. It swirled around him, alive as Link's pulsing heart, plumes tearing off his throat and becoming a shroud of feathers spread aloft. The wings of a raven.

"Yes."

"Who-what are you?" His voice caught and he remembered so long ago, when he did no speaking at all.

"The one who despairs," Like an admission of guilt to hang from the sky, such damning words so freely spoken. "I haven't been able to touch your world again. Until now." He smiled with lord-like shroud curling about him. It almost muffled the intimidation. "That one in the castle - the brightest one - will put my child to death for a burden not his own." He drifted closer in the space.

Link almost backed up, staring at the human crow.

"I thought it was strange," The demon began, imploring with wide eyes for Link's attention, "That a child like you had stumbled into my sphere of influence, rather that the Three would let you." He cocked his head like a bird, "And then you did it again, and overtook 'astounding' in my mind. Venturing into the menace of my temple, just having escaped the Well with the sought-after lens."

"For Impa. I did all of that to save Impa." He affirmed, staring awe-struck at the spectre.

"One of my children." Faint and thoughtful of tone, he drifted after the young one. "Farore chose well, gifting courage to one who is so loyal and so kind." Another step closer he came in the dark inexistence, and another Link backed away.

"Don't go on about courage, oh please don't." He begged of the spectre, "Because I'm scared of you. I was terrified in your Well and your Temple and I wanted so bad to run out and never come back."

"But you ventured through them anyway." The man pointed out reasonably. Link wasn't much for reason then. "And you chose not to run even when you so wished to."

Link gave a high, nervous laugh. "Yeah, yeah I did, and if I knew what it was like then I'd never have stepped foot in either of those hells. I wouldn't have done it."

"Yes you would have," The man insisted, floating after him as he backed away in the black ether, "I can say this with certainty because I have seen it. You've had that chance again and again."

"Only because of Sheik. Sheik, and Impa. Because I had reasons-"

"I pity the fool who disturbs the dead without reason."

"- But I couldn't have ever done it on my own."

"Who is to say that is a bad thing? What reason for yourself could you have to wake those sleeping?" The crow demanded, again sensibly, and made a dark point.

Link decided this subtopic had stagnated and that they should get back to the crux of the matter.

"If their lives are endangered, why can't you save them?" He asked, finding himself moving in a circle.

After him, the crow flitted unhindered.

"I cannot leave the otherworld." He confessed, eyes always catching Link's. "I am forever more locked away here to guard the souls passed."

"Why? Did the Sisters lock you here?"

Laughter shattered the calmness of ether.

"You think they have such power?"

* * *

Silence trailed after that, Link growing more and more alarmed.

The spirit seemed to catch his own mistake.

"… they are… kin," He began, softer, "and only hold a level of power as great as mine. Their influence lies with your world. They could not venture into my realm just as I could not venture into yours. But overlaps exist; in these places I can influence, and touch, and aid. That is why I could appear to you in the Well, and stop the temple dwellers -"

"That was you?"

"- from doing what they wished to do." He frowned, "What is it about me that makes you so nervous?"

"Everything." Link informed him with all frankness.

"Well, yes, but in particular."

Link thought about it, really thought, just because he was given a chance. "The fact that you're roughly equal in size to a Great fairy helps. And that you're a giant raven."

"That's not something I can particularly help." The man pointed out with a faint, thoughtful frown.

With a jolt Link realized he was right,

"But I can make myself smaller," He continued, and shrunk just to Link's stature.

Link almost wanted to apologize now, because hadn't he done that to Sheik too?

"I suppose it's to be expected. You're certainly not the first - mortals fear death, and that which frequents it."

…. Now he felt really bad.

"I have seen you, though. You do not judge him-"

"Yes I did."

"-but you righted yourself," The crow continued, "And tried to better yourself. You ventured into death's reach - my reach -" the amendment made soft with his voice"-over and over to retrieve things precious. You are the only one I would trust for this."

He stepped up and met Link's eyes square. "The one light is too bright. It strives to rip apart shadow. Alone Sheik will not prevail." Then he bowed, so deep and low that Link felt moved to sickness.

"You will help him, won't you?"

…. Gods, he hated himself.

"Yes."

* * *

Iblis had blessed him. He wondered about that, about whether it was blasphemous.

Before him Dampé floated, jaw slack, just staring. "Young man," He spoke when he was broken from being dumbstruck, "Do you know where you just went?"

"… Not where, but I know who I saw there…" He mumbled and stopped.

Something was hanging around his neck - his searching fingers caught on a chord and pulled out an amulet. There was a gem embedded in it, multifaceted and glowing with the vermillion of sunset and a Venetian red

that reminded, too eager, of half-dried blood.

Dampé stared down at it, horrified and awed. "Iblis has blessed you," He told Link, who stared stricken at the object he grasped.

_Iblis,_ the gem whispered when he squeezed so hard his fingers hurt, _I am your link to Iblis._

… _I get it… _he let go.

"Goddesses be with you, young man." Dampé blessed, "Let me bring you out of here."

"… Thanks…" he mumbled.

Just before sunset the light was brilliant gold. Washing over him, warm and sweet and alive, he tried to forget the scent of rotting. Under his gauntlet the triforce hummed - not unpleasant.

Sheik was standing there when he climbed back out of the tomb, and he remembered the crypt below the temple and green gook _all over _and a teenager offering kindness without asking for anything.

He stood leaning against the old shack, older now and maybe darker, and Link felt warm. Sheik's eyes caught first his face, then the red gem thumping with each step against his tunic - too-bright. He raised a brow, but did not question Link's sudden interest in -gaudy- jewelry.

"Um. Thanks for waiting for me…"

_He_ waited then, for explanations or dismissals, but Sheik held his tongue. Dryness incarnate was his stare, ripping apart any notion of subtly, "I will wait for you anytime, Link."

More and more of late, he found there were feelings he'd rather not sort out. He added the warm fuzzy mass inside him that made his heart skip to the list.

The reserved, relieved twist of lips just visible beyond the cowl wasn't helping.

Link took up an old question and presented it to his friend.

"Hey, uh… somebody told me sheikah give alms to the birds. How come?"

Sheik paused and gave him a befuddled smile, soft and wonderful. "Link. Have you ever tried to dig a hole on a mountain?"

Curious, he denied any such attempts.

"Well then. Come tomorrow we shall give it a try."

They went back to town and settled into a house of no particular interest.

* * *

Smile nostalgic and let yourself be buried in the past.

An order imposed by his own thoughts, he was left little else to do.

Sheik said the place was little used in the last years, but no dust had settled. Link again got the sense that something was left out in the words spoken.

Gentle brushes of his fingers over old parchment-colored walls, the sound of crickets outside the window, everything felt sleepy and sweet.

For evening meal they ate simple roast meat and dull bread, drank water instead of wine, and at bedtime slept on blankets over hay. And Link loved it so much more than the castle. The cot from so long ago was too small for either of them - indeed, it was just the size for a child and backed Sheik's claim.

Half-overlooked memories of blond boys with disapproving stares and antiseptic in hand embedded themselves in the very world around them, but only Link could see.

Sheik's eyes that sought truth, of course, couldn't be privy to the illusion of past times fading, painted only by an aging mind.

In between the house's narrow walls, thoughts and dreams and the vague notion of youth fading were whispered in the receding light before they laid their heads down to sleep. Blowing out the light and settling alone on rough-hewn mats, less than a footstep between the edges, Link felt far, far happier than he ever could in the lonely splendor of anywhere else.

* * *

Seven hours past dark, happy flew out the window and died a lonely death.

At that fateful, horrid hour Link would curse everything from Sheik to spirits to the moon. For he was woken unclean and unfulfilled, having been unwillfully subjected to all the consequence of youthful condition.

As per his earlier prediction, he'd dreamt of that one night in the dark at the castle, and found that whilst the positions were the same, the servant wasn't present, and events didn't end at a faux-press of lips to his neck.

_If only_, he reflected, flushed and forlorn. _If only. _

He made his way out back to snatch up a bucket.

The sun was bright. Miss Anju was sweet and lovely and all things beautiful, for she had given them a lunch to take up the mountain.

Sheik had risen with a smile and no cowl- Link could have stroked out if all the blood hadn't rushed to his face - and had very calmly begun making up a list of what could be going on in the mountain (magic, natural evolution, natural selection), what extra supplies were necessary (times past taught that Link would need at least nine feet of bandages and antiseptic to match - he grabbed a bottle of hard liquor from the cabinet).

Soon after waking Sheik ventured outside to grab some fresh water to bottle. Link saw the wisdom in that and likewise checked what rations they'd been given.

In the process he found that at some point prior, Sheik had lined the bags with implements for cooking and hunting, presuming that the metal sticks were indeed spits and Sheikah hunted with daggers and a length of twine.

Whilst he pondered the possible but difficult prospect of ambushing prey with rope (and the more alarming idea of taking on a grown stag with naught but a half-foot blade), Sheik returned. And asked, in tones most perturbed, why Link's night clothes were drying in the sun.

Link turned three shades of color, starting with a blush Zelda may have found enviable and ending with one Volvagia most certainly would've. This not serving, he tried anew by stutters incomprehensible, and when failing again reverted to spirited gesture.

At the very least, Sheik seemed entertained by the show, enough that he deigned to ask no more.

Link was glad of it.

Outside that little, nondescript house, the sun smiled down on them. It was accompanied by beautiful sky, so intense and blue and free of blemish. It seemed no one in town could find fault with life today, and all were in good spirits. Miss Anju, noted before, was feeling generous. Even the head carpenter couldn't quite summon up the ill-spirit to be whole-heartedly disapproving of the world.

The man on the lookout was of particularly jubilant condition, waving and shouting avidly to the man on the roof beside him. A shadow appeared from the entrance of town, and he cried out the arrival of a hawk. A royal message, he said, with the King's seal. He peeled it open.

Almost regretful to leave such a light-hearted place, they paused at the gate to Death Mountain trail.

The man read the letter once, silent, then read it aloud.

* * *

Chapter end

AU: To my dear readers. Please don't sleep in trees. It is not a good idea, this is the voice of experience speaking. Roofs are also an ill-informed place to nap. Both are likely to win you a Darwin award and yes, dears, you have to die for those (or otherwise have your reproductive system rendered null and void in the fateful act.)

heeheehee.

Stalchildren keeps being corrected as stepchildren by spellcheck, whom also insists that conspiration is actually constipation. Pfft.

In past times, gay actually meant bright or merry, or to live a debauched and/or dissolute life. I'm just being a jackass with the double meanings (again.)

Red throw being red… carpet? (carpet is from the 1400s and I try to remove words like that when they have significance,… and then I found out just how limiting that is and how even the game doesn't conform to those standards. But I'll still aspire to the feel of period fantasy.)

History of the lute and the era of its appearance is debatable so… yeah. I like the sound of lutes, but originally it was going to be a sitar. Then I found out that sitars are from the east and likely wouldn't have made an appearance at all, let alone be recognizable to our heroes. So.

Finally, on Link's gaud. It is a very nice piece and the gem itself is astoundingly beautiful, but you'd never want to wear it. I think Reala (from NiGHTS, owing to his costume in JoD) would wear it, really. It's a faceted, oval-like polygon and its just huge (little smaller than Link's fist).

And as for the part where happy flies out the window - for those of you who aren't used to… I guess flowery metaphors (are mine flowery?) he had a wet dream and all the physical effects.

If you made it past the oc bit, thank you. He won't be important from now on, just think of him as that guy in the background. The unimportant one. Cool, cool. Did he seem too teeth-rottingly nice and un-noblish? I mean, if Zelda can be a noble…

AS FOR UPDATES -AGAIN- I'm SOOOOOORRRRY, I FORGOOOOOOOT. STUFF happened and them more STUFF and actually time is just strange for me. BUT I UPLOADED TWO IN ONE DAY BECAUSE I LOVE YOU ALL. I want to sleep but instead I show my love… ah… is this how it feels to be Russia, Ivan? (Hetalia)

Other excuse; I've been on textile making and drawing binges, so yeah. Thinking about uploading my images for the characters in this to my Deviantart – how do you all feel? Mm… night night.


	5. Please don't let it break you

Holy crap have I been stuffing a lot in these chapters. It didn't even click for me that 6000-9000 words was a lot… until ff informed me. Um.

So… yeah. Last chapter had a lot of past information – some of it was vague, so I'll try to clear up some main points;

Sheik didn't know that Link was gathering the spiritual stones – he just saw some kid who knew the royal lullaby and an aberration in the day to day life of Kakariko. When he found out, he was unhappy to realize that Link would die because of Ganon (technically he did, since Ganonfdorf inspired a hell of a lot of change in him) and compared him to a star entering supernova. As for the think there would be a different hero… he thought Zelda had gotten something wrong, because Link was just so… Link. Like when you see a Rottweiler puppy, when it's still small enough to fit in your palm. Then the puppy grows up.

He definitely did some things he wasn't proud of and, looking back, is quite horrified at some.

Towards the later end of Ganon's reign, he slept around, partied and generally acted like someone who wouldn't survive on their own – irresponsible and immature. He did this so he wouldn't look like a threat.

The rest was made purposefully ambiguous, especially anything containing 'it wouldn't have been the first time'.

Also, something I should clarify (thank you, Trolly's bara-chan);

When Sheik says he 'isn't supposed to exist', he means as an individual person, a living person, and as Zelda's guard. He is literally supposed to be a living shadow, following and protecting Zelda. People in Kakariko know who he is because everyone there is born to serve the Royal family, and it's too small a town to not know, really. When people see Zelda and Sheik together they assume he's her guard because he is a Sheikah. However, because of their skin and eye color and the fact that Sheik is male, people don't suspect he is her body double.

As far as the people know, Zelda doesn't HAVE a body double. And many Sheikah used to mill about the castle, so the servants are used to seeing them every once and a while.

Reviews

Trolly's bara-chan – heeee. Thank you, I'm glad you like it. I don't think that's even the word for what Sheik is.

Sunnepho –That's really sweet, so thank you~ And I hope you enjoy this chapter as well!

HAPPY HALLOWEEN, THIS IS MY PRESENT TO YOU ALL~

also an explanation for an earlier scene - when Link and Sheik slept outside the castle and Sheik was being a fucking lunatic, to use Link's -mental- phrasing - appears in here.

* * *

**Chapter 5 Sometimes tears won't cleanse the sins. (But please don't let them break you.) AKA In memoriam**

"But why? What have _I_ done to deserve this?" The day was inconsequential. It was hot, and horrible, and the match taken up in the private quarters of the castle was making it all so much worse.

Everyone wanted it to end.

"It is not because of what you have done but because of what you are, or rather _aren't._ You were a mistake, and woe to men who do not correct their own wrongs. You, who are undeserving of name, are _my_ mistake. I cannot erase your body perhaps, or that wretched blood of yours, but I can erase your _existence_. You will never be more than a shadow."

Everyone wanted it to end. So no-one spoke up.

Not long before a contemplative hero had slipped from his friend's empty quarters, curious of his absence.

* * *

For some reason, the memory of Sheik's flight from the throne room days ago plagued her sleep the night before. She couldn't find Link that night, either – she strongly suspected he was with Sheik. She hoped he was.

"_Worthless." _

Her heart caught in her throat. How was she supposed to…? She couldn't do that. Choosing between her brother and her father…

Sunlight dappled the stone floor. A tuneless hum worked from her throat while she bustled down the hall, a glass of honey and water clasped before her bosom.

Her two finest warriors were off to slay the dragon, so she had to keep busy in their absence.

She turned down another corridor.

There was a book sitting on her desk back in her quarters, waiting for one of those dear knights. The excitement of finding it had her giddy to give it to him – she didn't think she could make it if they took more than a week.

The kingdom was flourishing like a new flower. Relations with the provinces and other kingdoms were going favorably. She had gotten off with the Duke of Weiss especially well.

Her father had called her to have a talk about that, actually…

She smiled, rubbing a bit of condensation from the chilled glass.

The doors to his quarters came in to her sight.

A breeze from an open window ruffled her hair – her father's room was high in the castle, high enough to see over the walls. The sky was a brilliant blue and just past midday.

She knocked firmly against the wood.

… when nothing was forthcoming, she tried again, then frowned and gently pressed the door open.

The glass hit the floor and shattered.

Before temples and sages but after Ganondorf and Zelda and birds that almost glanced him on cliffsides, Link was naïve and quite wise. With young, half-broken rosy lenses he looked upon the face of Hyrule's noblest for the first time. The King, mighty and firm, was a regal man. From the way he carried himself to his diplomacy to how he dealt with all matters (with thought and care) he was awe-inspiring.

Link remembered, when he was fresh and young, his first look at the King. Since he'd left the forest he'd met many strange and wonderful people, but if Zelda and Impa were of a different breed, then the king was of a different species.

He glided through the chambers with the presence of a lion (or so Link thought, for he'd never actually seen one) and dealt with all matters with swift hand and air unaffected.

The first time he'd _met_ the man, he had gazed down on him, not over. He had met Link's gaze (curious and unafraid, because he didn't know things like corruption and darkness could reside in people just yet), and pronounced in a rumble his assessment; "You are the boy Zelda has taken to playing with?"

He'd nodded, mute as he often was, and shook the offered hand.

"Treat her kindly." His eyes, reserved and steel-like, held a tender love for his daughter that marked him as wonderful. "She doesn't have many friends."

He wanted to tell him that he would, or that he didn't, either, or _anything_, but his words caught in his throat and choked.

Softness ran the king's face but for a moment when he smiled, down on the fumbling youth. "I can see you are a good one."

* * *

"What happened to you?"

A pause in the uneven pitter-patter. He turned, still beaming, to face them.

He smiled and happily - silently - hailed him.

A quirk of the brow as he repeated the question.

Link began to gesture, avid, about something atop his head (some kind of stiff cap?… perhaps a redead. The boy was prone to those attaching themselves there.) and then held out his hand to move as through someone were shaking it.

"… and your ankle?"

His whole body drooped. Far less enthusiastic, his gestures included grabbing motions, and another like he was bursting from water with arms above his head.

A glance at the night sky gave him a pretty good guess.

"You were running in the field, right?"

Nod-nod-faster nod.

"Don't hurt your neck, too. Did a stalchild pop out and grab you?"

Even faster nodding.

He sighed. "I'm getting too good at this. Come on." He held out his hands. The boy never spoke much, assuming he did at all – his name was scarcely bribed from him, for bread and water which he would've been given regardless.

Link stared like he was an alien. Moments in the novelty wore off and he grew tired of Link staring like that, and just scooped him up.

With serious -paranoid- care for the ankle he carried him away from the gate and into town.

One non-descript house later, Link was lying on a cot with a towel in his mouth.

"Hold still." _CRACKPOP._

_Chompf. _

He howled through the cloth.

"You're very lucky you didn't break it," The unaffected elder continued, patting his calve and forgoing the sore ankle. "Now, can you try telling me again about whatever made you so happy before? I'm afraid I didn't quite understand."

Navi flittered out and settled on his shoulder, flashing at Link.

He blinked and flushed, slanting a glance to his face before looking back to the fairy.

His host settled back and waited.

A nervous nod for whatever her efforts were, he opened his mouth.

"… I saw the King today."

Knowing someone could talk and then hearing them speak wasn't so special, to anyone else. With Link (or maybe just in his world, where someone who trusted him was a rare boon indeed) it was something special. He came out of his lapse with a soft battered smile, one Link of course couldn't see.

Setting his hand on the crown of a little blond head, he returned, "Oh? And I suppose he was just as wonderful as the tales say, eh?"

Link beamed again and nodded so hard he was waiting for his head to fly off.

He bit down on his feelings. "And was he kind to you?"

Another nod, with big blue eyes.

_The king… _

"I'm glad to hear it."

Then the cucco cried out

* * *

At age seventeen, Link had overthrown the usurper, freed the Princess, and together with her hand (and later as he would find, Sheik's too) saved Hyrule.

Over the course of these actions, it came to light that the King - still alive but in the dungeons, because Ganon was overconfident in the best of times and simply _stupid _at the worst - was in fact human just like him and everyone else. It really shouldn't have surprised him like he did, but hero worship died just as hard as old habits.

Hyrule's leonine champion had been mistaken, overthrown, and made weak with abuse and terrible condition of living.

And yet Link watched him retake his throne, watched him address the people, and watched him try, not in spite of what happened but still _because_ of it, to make everything better. Lower taxes, alms for the poor, a shelter built on Royal funds for children orphaned in the war.

The day he'd been freed, such a wonderful and also terrible day, he had fallen to his knees to thank Link - _please get up, sir, please _- and somehow it made him all the more impressive, for even humbled and with the ill-vantage of humanity to weigh on him he worked and prevailed.

Under his hand the kingdom again flourished.

In the alley ways there were still shadows, but who could begrudge him that? There were always shadows, really, and weren't shady people the ones who made back alleys interesting?

One such shadow flitted in and out of Link's mind like the darkness in the rafters, and he nodded to himself.

Zelda smiled, her fingers brushing the porcelain cup. Fond nostalgia alighted upon her features. "I'm so very happy he's safe, you know." She murmured, tilting her head so long locks of blond fell to the side. "I don't know what I would do without him."

"I think I know." He murmured, smiling back. More bitter-sweet than nostalgic was his face, "For us in the forest… the Great Deku tree is-was our father. I remember him a lot, now that I don't…"

_Have to complete the temples - save the world - solve the puzzles - search for you_

The things he didn't have to do tumbled on and on, and Zelda recalled that he'd never _had_ to do them.

"You're a very kind person, Link." She murmured.

He twisted his lips at her and seemed to be staring at something in its entirety strange. "No I'm not."

She laughed and glanced off. "What are you going to do?"

"… I… I'm not sure."

"That's alright. You don't have to pick a path just yet." She chuckled.

"… that's probably the nicest thing I've ever heard…" His faint mumble made her again grow sad, even when he smiled to the table-top, tracing odd swirls and whirls on the surface.

Just then, the King entered the garden. He saved her from her wandering thoughts.

Zelda waved, and smiled, and Link nodded a greeting. The King didn't mind it like he perhaps should have. He greeted Link warm, like he would a son, and took up an earlier discussion with Zelda on their plans for reconciliation with the rest of the nobility.

The young Lady exuded joy like an aura of heaven, blue eyes bright with admiration and relief and all a daughter's love.

* * *

The Dark pressed himself further into shadowed stone and sighed, bringing a hand to his forehead. Stars exploded beyond his vision when he _pressed_, and the blood that oozed from his wounds only reminded him too vivid of how he'd lost.

Again.

Nameless and wanting he wandered through the dark, hating the moon, and sky, and the color blue and every other sweet kindness denied.

It wasn't the moon's fault, really, that it was so despised, but rather the fault of a wretched looming power who encompassed everything. And that power decreed the traitorous shade unfit of title, and worth, and of identity which all else held.

Never knowing anything else beyond the misery, he didn't understand his constant malcontent. But then, he'd never truly hated, either.

Change when it came was a shocking messenger, and once he'd felt the light of day the unrepentant sinner could never return to chains unembittered. Only after he'd tasted freedom and been returned to his bondage did he learn to hate.

Let from then, his story be told as a fairytale, and not as the suffering of someone real because, again, the dark was denied identity. He was not a person in the eyes of their world.

Let a tale of the shadows be woven, once upon a dream…

In a world neither living nor dead, there was a darkness which no man would approach, and none granted name. He lingered always on an edge to oblivion.

The Nameless Dark was known by all, and they all feared him. After all was said and done, wasn't it natural that they feared him?

He preferred it.

Hatred still festered of the darkness, deep in their hearts but thoughts of death kept them far away.

Little care was left for them, for his servitude, for much anything, because he had long grown apathetic.

An aberration in the cloth of his world, ignored in the grand scheme, was that he saw a drifting moon and was followed each day by a shining Sun.

The Sun he watched over in sleep but fled from its waking, leading it to where it need be, and the Moon he caught drifting through his sky one dreary eve.

And that Moon he saw again and again, and found him eager for every next glance - even when he learned the crushing truth, that the Moon already had master, that it too was ephemeral, he still wished after the Moon.

Soon after the Sun had caught up with him for the first time, the Dark stopped running.

He let himself be swept away by them and their light, and the joyous Sun and silent Moon kept him close to their sides and safe from the precipice where he had always before lingered.

He grew to love them and their light and found, one day, that many little lights had woven themselves into his hair so he could carry pieces of them always.

_Stars_, the wind whispered, _because you were so lonely they made you stars. Now even when the Sun sleeps and the Moon hides his face you will be with them._

But the day came when he was reminded, too bitterly, that still he was not like them. He was still the nameless void that mortals and gods alike feared.

A lion named Power was the rightful king of the land. He sat atop the earth and decreed his descent from the heavens. Handed his right to rule by the Three Ladies themselves, his word was absolute.

And he hated the Dark.

His damning voice carried across the world and became a nail in Fate's coffin. Words rung out and sealed the Dark to his own destruction - he the nameless spectre, always to be denied self-worth, was to be cast to the void when he outlived his purpose in their world.

And though the darkness screamed and kicked and clawed with all his might at the hands bringing him to his cage, he did not escape, and no one stood to help him.

Sun reached through the bars to touch his face and cried for him, but she did not unlock his chains.

And without his music to awaken and guide, the moon slept on through the night…

* * *

So the darkness sat in his cage and snapped away at anyone who came too close. He stared out and with baleful eyes watched the world change. He watched a blanket fall over it while the lion slept, and the shade with name set him loose from his cage to let the sun rest because, after all this time, she had been forbidden from sleep.

Wrapped up in the tattered folds of his cloak, he spirited her away. He watched, while she slept pressed to his side, as the proud lion was shackled and drawn away with a muzzle fitted over his glorious face.

His eyes caught the Darkness and promised him a thousand deaths.

Gazing back at the lion in dispassion, he picked up the sun and stole away into chaos.

He remembered he slept for a very long time. Not the kind of sleep which people experience, a temporary reprieve from the world, but rather the eternal kind that they so fearfully hailed as Thanatos. Defying the very nature of his own words, he would wake.

Watching the Moon rise for the first time since the eclipse seven years behind them, he would reenter the cycle of rebirth. Aberrations in the cloth of his reality ripped it down around him.

Metal and music clashed on the precipice between here and beyond. And the Moon purified the world with it's gentle light.

He guided the Luna as before, drawing him along paths and leading him to the places filled with tragedy and magic older than the heavens. The Moon pulled him back and became the link that kept him from jumping over the precipice to the valley of bones below.

Destroyed life and a world of ashes taught them something - you could not destroy suffering with suffering.

The Darkness still hated, though, and still was darkness like the kind that plagued the land. He was still nameless and forsaken, and belonged nowhere near the precious lights. The moonbeams bleached his soul and shredded the smothering evil encompassing their world. Remembering, then, that he too was evil, and long past his usefulness, the Darkness fled.

In their wake another world was left to ashes.

He ran, from the ruined and beautiful world, and hated himself, because no matter how he ran the moon caught him.

Standing in the in-between of the world, he was cornered. The moon embraced him and begged with the melancholy voice like the night bird's for his ear. His broken beams touched the Dark's face, and let the words surround him.

"_You are darkness, but you are not evil. You lay over the world and let it sleep while you toil. _

_If it weren't for you the Sun would bleed out and die, but never would be reborn. _

_And you are the only one who guides my path. Without you I wouldn't know the night from day or to rise or fall." _

And so the darkness began to love the moon.

* * *

He sat on the edge of the world and watched the moon set, to sleep for the first time in so long. In his hair the entwined stars gleamed.

* * *

After that the so-hated and perhaps-beloved moon drifted in and out of his sky. When it appeared it stayed near him, trying to shine light on his face where it laid buried in the darkness.

Soon after the moon, the sun too had woken. Standing together with the Moon, he recalled, they had shattered the oppressing dark.

Now the Sun flit into his world in a rush of rich cloth and bright color, whenever she could manage. She would press her lips to his, rub away his tears, and beg him not to bury himself.

The Moon would float behind him silent.

* * *

He laughed, dark and derisive, and carded his fingers through his hair.

"Sheik…?"

"I'm going to ask him." He mumbled, light glancing against his sharp eyes in way unsettling. "He won't say yes. But I'm going to ask him."

"… Sheik…" She breathed a sigh, walking up and smoothing a gloved hand over his cheek. Eyes begging him to listen, she told him what she thought.

He said he was still going.

"I don't want you to get hurt, you know." She mumbled, laying her chin on his shoulder

"Every time I bite my tongue I'm hurt, you know." He mimicked, the epitome of maturity as per usual. Two fingers caught under her chin and tilted her face up. One quick tug of cloth, he pressed his lips to hers, then brought the cowl back. "This isn't something I'll ever keep quiet about."

"Okay." She pressed her forehead against his and sighed.

He grunted - the circlet was pressing into his skin.

Another sigh was fettered and smothered.

* * *

It had started out neatly. As neatly as it ever had, anyway - one barely refusing to look at the other, the other who was staring open.

The question was breached, actually subtle in introduction.

And he hated it.

"No! I have said it before, and a thousand more will come!" The roar shook the hall.

"Then I will ask one thousand and one times!" He cried back in fervor with clenched fists barely kept at his hips.

"_Fool! _Even then it will be the same!"

"What is it I have done that you won't even grant me this?" Sheik screamed, snapping one arm out to his side in restraint of terrifying passion.

"You don't _need it_, ungrateful trash! _That_ is why I won't grant it! You exist for one reason and **it doesn't require a name! **Only _obedience_, which apparently you're lacking!" The worst words, he should have found, were the ones that brought into question his value. Sheik would never allow anyone to call him worthless. The previously manic young man froze up, smoldering rage still swallowing up his mind, with a layer of calculating ice settled over it all.

"Funny." Sheik hissed, shoulders pulling up and eyes waxing dangerous. "Because I could swear my job required me to protect my sister at all costs, even disobedience. Eh, your majesty?"

Deathly, hateful silence.

"You know, it really is quite droll." Voice a croon, running over everyone and making their backs crawl, he continued. "I know what this-_all_ of this- is about. I understand it now. _You're_ **upset** that I'm the proof of your mistake, and you can't get rid of me. Oh, but you sure can make me _suffer _for it."

"It is your fault." The King seethed, fingers clenching the arms of the throne, "That my dear is dead."

"No, father, it is yours." Sheik hissed, sharp smile half hidden under his cowl. His eyes glistened. "It is your fault, that everyone you touch suffers, and everyone you love _dies_, and you need someone to _blame_."

"_**Get out.**_"

Zelda jolted and pressed herself to the wall. "Get out, now, or so help me you will be hanged."

"I always preferred choking." He sneered before his submission.

Outside the door a figure lingered and looked betrayed.

Sheik's footsteps stuttered out.

"Link." He breathed.

Miserable eyes caught his. "… you didn't mean that, did you? About…" He trailed off and tilted his head towards the hall.

When he took off Link ghosted his steps, lugubrious and heart on his sleeve.

"Please tell me you don't want to die." Link caught his wrist and begged with melancholy dripping off him.

"Of course not," He grunted, tossing an impatient glance over one shoulder. "That's why I'm leaving."

The hero kept dogging his heels; deep into wilderness he'd have no hope finding his way out of if Sheik left.

When the trees hid everything but more trees, he stopped and turned. Link stopped and stared at him, too - sad and silent. He had this terrible quality about him that inspired care.

The only reason Sheik wouldn't stay foul-tempered. "Black bile doesn't suit you," He began in sotto voce, smoothing a hand over Link's cheek. "Where is the sanguine?"

"I left it back on the castle floor." He mumbled, staring at his friend without staring him down.

"Don't say that, Link." He tried to make his voice sooth.

Laughter more suited to him flowed from the youth. "You know, if I hadn't seen her in the castle I'd think you were Zelda."

"Well, that is my purpose." In the treetops, birds cried. "But I sometimes wish you knew better."

"I do, too." Link confessed, "And I think I'm getting somewhere… right now you've got this look." He drank in a breath and - with stuttering, wavering eyes - looked up. "I hope I never see it on Zelda."

Of their own accord, his fingers drifted to trace over his own face, beyond the shawl and veil of his bangs. "I hope so, too."

The sunlight fell apart while they waited. Twilit eyes would fall to darkness.

"… Before today I thought the king was a kind man." Link mumbled in the fading eve, "… so what kind of father won't let his son have a name?"

* * *

As they waited on the precipice between happiness and suffering, the man became fate drawing back his bow. He called out the proclamation with voice of bold red ink to the world.

The king was dead.

* * *

It was interesting, actually. Watching someone learn someone else had died. Some people didn't react at all, some went numb.

Sheik kind-of went reeling.

Half-numb hands were at his back and steadied him.

"Sheik." Link mumbled into his ear while he slumped. "Oh, goddesses, Sheik."

"I'm fine." He insisted as his knees gave, and Link gently settled onto the ground behind him.

His temple hit Link's shoulder in a way that must have hurt. "I'm fine. Oh, Farore, _Zelda_… How could she even lift a pen? She must be in ribbons…"

"Sheik. What about you?"

"Me?" Half-startled laughter bubbled up in his throat. "Oh, Link, you dear thing. Not an ounce of guile - I am fine. I hated him. But I am not there for Zelda."

_Right. Of course that's your main concern. _

_And you call me a martyr._"I don't think you should go anywhere," Link mumbled, eyes searching Sheik for any sign of mental wellness. He came up empty. "We need to put this off. Ask them to send someone else."

"What about Zelda?" Sheik demanded again of him, staring off unseeing. "She asked for us to do this, you know. It won't do her any good to find us disobedient."

"I'm not close to this," Too-flawed nobility tumbled from his lips, as the words, "I can go."  
"No." The gasp of a dying man shook him, and he turned and seized with vice-like grip the mislead hero, "No, you will not. I am going with you and we will fix this."

"Fix what, Sheik?" He demanded under the powerful hands.

"The cavern. We will fix it and then - and then we can go back to Zelda. She needs…" He broke off into a keen, "Goddesses above, Link, you won't keep me from this."

"… Okay." He mumbled, "Okay, but we aren't leaving now."

Sheik let out another keen and whatever possession of temper he'd kept faded. Boneless and wailing, he collapsed against Link.

The sun shined on beautiful and bright over the kingdom in mourning.

* * *

Soon, he knew, the nobles would be clamoring over themselves to take the hand of the heir. Already, he knew, they were clamoring over themselves to condole (and the wilier console) the distressed young queen, because now she was the queen. It just wasn't made official yet.

Parasites didn't leave you time to grieve.

He also knew, wrapped up in the arms of a silent Link while they lay on the floor of his house, that he was suffering more than Sheik. And Zelda was, too, far more than them both. He knew this was only going to get worse.

And he hated that he knew (without question, now) that he was still a nameless shadow, and the old bastard would never say yes because he was _dead_, and he'd had the last laugh. A thousand and one times meant nothing to the afterlife. And the old fool, he'd left an entire-fucking-_kingdom_ in mourning and a girl without her father.

Sheik could blaspheme him to high heaven and dankest hell, but those words would never fix it and the feeling never could.

For him then, mortality was born of false salve.

He sighed and wrapped his arms round Link's neck and mused aloud these things to him.

"'Everyone dies'." Link blinked at him, "Yeah, it seems a mite redundant." Another moment faded. He sighed. "You aren't sad at all?"

"Not for him." Sheik felt numb, curled up on the floor like a beaten child, "Does that make me bad?"

"… Well, you were always kind of on the soft side…" Link mused, because of course his secret nature would prevail -_then_-.

Sheik head-butted him.

"Ow!" He squawked.

A gentle press of their foreheads as an apology, Sheik retorted with a dry stare. "Glad to know you don't think less of me." Equally dry in tone, per the norm. Predictably was good sign in grieving he supposed. His eyes flit shut and he shifted. "I'm sad for Zelda, Link. I'm very sad - woe is me, for her fragile heart. She's already lost her mother, mind you, and she and the King grew close in begrieved affection. Now all the blood she has left is avaricious predators and a bastard brother." He moaned and closed his eyes, "Dear Iblis, why?"

Link sucked in a startled breath. "Iblis?" He mumbled.

"The patron god of Sheikah." Sheik's chuckles were mirthless and faint, "He rules over the underworld and takes the souls of the dead from mourning-birds." A sigh. "I hated the man, but may his soul reach the hands unharmed."

"You're stronger than I," Link mumbled, "because I'm still mad at him. I hope Iblis tosses him in with the people who made the Well."

At mention of hell underfoot the proposed mourner stiffened. "Link?"

"Oh yeah, probably didn't mention that." Link sighed and obligingly released the Sheikah, who shifted back.

"It seems like an eternity between now and then, you know, but before I went back into the Shadow temple, I did some of that self-searching bards sing so fondly of. Ended up going down in the well."

"And Iblis? Did you just pick it up from me?" Later, when he was more lucid and less blinded by grief, Sheik was going to recall this conversation. And he was going to eviscerate Link, or just never let him out of his sight.

Smothering his laugh in the pillow, because now really wasn't the time, Link gave him a tired smile. "Hey, Sheik? If I told you that Iblis was real, would you believe me?"

For a moment, Sheik might've thought him daft. "You and that damnable triforce have more than proven the existence of deities." He pointed out in tired voice, with sagging shoulders and eyes that drooped.

"Alright." Clicking his tongue against his teeth while he searched for the right words, Link wondered if he should really do this. "Alright. What about if I said that I met him, face to face?"

No obvious signs of disbelief manifesting, Sheik nodded him on,

"And what if I told you he is a goliath of a man with a mane of feathers round his neck?" Solemn and unlaughing, he watched his friend.

Sheik stared back, equal in humor, and recalled that Link simply did not joke about being spoken to by the gods, since when they did they had the upsetting tendency of demanding global salvation.

"… only you, Link." He muttered, shaking his head, "Only you."

"I wish it could be someone else." He snorted and settled further into the blanket, leaving only one eye cracked. "… you _will_ be alright, Sheik?"

"Was that a question?" Sheik demanded, drowsy. "Everything will be alright, Link, but not for us. Not for a while."

"… alright."

On rough mats in Sheik's home in the middle of the afternoon, they drifted into slumber.

* * *

"Sheik. Sheik."

He moaned and shifted his head, trying to shoo off his waker.

"C'mon, please… wake up, Sheik." Carmine cracked open and flickered toward him, drowsy.

Haggard, with bitten lips and too-wide too-dark eyes, Link greeted him. "Hey. Some more have gone missing. We can't wait any longer."

"… alright…" he rasped, sitting up and trying to shake the stubborn tendrils of sleep.

Link handed him his bag and tilted his head towards the door.

They stepped out under the lamentful shine of a moon waning.

Black branches scattered along their path were skeletal fingers. Faint lights drifted in the distance like too-near stars, calling out the unwary - right over the precipices.

Link traced constellations with his fingers and Sheik whispered their names, why they were, where they led. Half-beloved distractions kept their feet swift.

Yawing paths led them in night journey too-precarious up into oblivion where the dwindling moon sung.

Last laments were fading.

They crested the final curve.

Great bodies barricaded the way, loud and afraid and defiant.

"You can't, you can't!" A child cried out while they shoved their way through the crowd.

"I can and I will." The voice left no room for argument.

They found themselves in the middle of the crowd, and gazing down Darunia. "Link." He rumbled, half-surprised. "I am going into the cave to deal with this myself."

Sheik stepped up before Link had wrapped his head around it all. "And who while be in charge while you're gone?" His voice was sharp, and edged with the desperation of grief and rage, "What happens when you're hurt? - and you _will_ be hurt, I know all about heroes and their injuries."

Darunia drew up and looked even bigger - like he needed that – "You have no authority to tell me what I can and cannot do for the good of my people."

"You think this will be good for them?" Fighting words, if they had ever been needed at all.

Before Sheik could further pick these stitches, Link interjected, "Who will make sure everyone is safe while you're gone?"

"This could just be a ploy to get you away from the rest of the Gorons," Sheik provided, much more helpfully. That, Link could work from

"And… let's just say you do get hurt - who can help you? I certainly couldn't drag you out of there, and I know you'd never put anyone else in that kind of danger."

Darunia looked a little more inclined to listen now that Sheik wasn't provoking him. He began shooing back his kinsmen.

"They're all scared, and now you're trying to leave them alone." Sheik murmured. Darunia became irritated again - Link cut in,

"I know why you're doing this. You love them, you want to take care of them… but they don't see it that way. Sheik is right - they're scared and lost and probably really lonely. They don't want to risk you too." _He could understand that – someone just the same was walking beside him in the dark._

"They are my brothers, and I will stand up to anything that threatens them."

He hadn't wished for this.

Thankfully, it wasn't Link who'd spoken. _"What about Link?"_ Still though, he might as well have shattered Darunia's trust on the mountainside, "What about _him?_ What will he do without you?" The fire sage seized up, passionate and horrified and he kept going, trying so hard to persuade while the hero stood on in mute horror, "Right now, in Hyrule castle, a child is suffering because she just lost her father to some invisible beast. Everyone hailed him as a hero, but in the end that will give her no cessation of suffering. She is still lost and terrified and in _so much __**pain**_and instead of being at her side to console her, we are _here_. _Here_, to make sure that your son doesn't have to feel that pain like she does. Would you forsake her gift?" Raw voiced and eyes shimmering, Sheik stared down the Goron. "_Please_," he rasped, "please do not do that to them. I know I've made no friend of you, but you cannot do this. To any of them."

Pale light gleamed in a trail of brine on his cheek whilst he addressed the leader of the Gorons. Darunia's rage had paled to horror, tragic empathetic horror.

Catching his chance to pick up the proverbial pieces, Link held out a hand. "Darunia. I promise you - we will find out what is happening, and we will stop it. Trust us." The Gorons eyes wavered, and when he looked to Link a shred of fear was lingering in them.

"… Only if you promise to be safe, brother."

Link smiled, "Promise."

* * *

_This place is the same as ever, _he mused, _excepting the boulders in the jaw. Huh. _

Sheik was scoping out the place, probably he-didn't-want-to-think-about-it heights above, slipping through the catacombs and caverns like water.

He let himself collapse in the main hall, listening to the echo of nothing.

_Goddesses…_

The King was dead. He'd… survived an entire war, locked up in his usurper's dungeons, just to die the year after he was freed?

He wasn't… wasn't even that old…

What the hell was happening, then? Was some jackass son of nobility going to trance on up and marry Zelda before she could be queen?

_Hell no._ He snorted, _Like Sheik or I would ever let _that_ roll. _Sheik_…_

… _I believe him… that he hated the King. _

_But I don't get how someone could hate their own father… _

_Or how a father could be so cruel to his child…_

He shifted so his head settled on his knees. His own kind were so strange. Come to think of it, if the King was Sheik's father… then that made Sheik half-hylian, didn't it? Link frowned.

... The day after Ganon died, it rained.

For the next month it went on, every day, ripping up the decaying tumors in the earth and washing away its cancer.

It rained long and hard and it felt like it was washing away everything that polluted him, too.

And it stung.

A million little needles ripping apart who he was, who he had to be, he stood out in the downpour.

In front of him children gathered under a tarp turned shelter. Little dirtied bodies crowded around the King, listening to him tell them all about where they were going - they all had lost their parents to the war, Link recalled. An orphanage. The kids would be brought up as guards and transcribers and anything else their teachers could teach. The king was trying to make their lives better and fill up some of the gaps between the rich and the dead- the masses. There were rupees to go around.

Another sigh. Dreary blue became again vermillion and flashing steam and gold.

"Not one to be found." Link guessed.

"Yes." Sheik landed and stayed behind him, out of sight. He didn't bother turning. "… I would like for you to come with me now, for a more thorough search."

"Alright," He rasped, voice half-lost in the cavern, and stood.

Eyes flickering up and down his figure, Sheik wondered if he would be able to walk.

"I'll be fine." Link replied with a bucket of faux assurance.

"If you need help, tell me." That said, Sheik took the lead into the tunnels.

Fingers dragging against too-hot walls, he trailed between the ceilings and floors. Little passages that cropped up between the barriers of hot earth left him slipping in and out of Sheik's sight. His hands were made curious and pressed into the scorch of red stone.

"Any idea where it might be?" Sheik called back, faint and thoughtful, while he poked around a higher ledge.

"'It'?"

"You have a better name in mind, hero mine?"

"… your's?"

"Mine? Why would we name it after…?" He trailed off when their eyes met. "… what? Are you discomforted by me calling you that?"

"I'm curious." Link returned, feeling around a bump in the wall while watching the Sheikah over one shoulder.

Sheik snorted. He didn't glance back, but watched his splayed fingers on the floor. "Mine. I'm claiming ownership."

"How do you think Zelda would feel about that?" Link asked carefully, turning back to the wall.

"She'd pat me on the back and break out the champagne." For whatever reason, this made Link burst out into snickers. "I'm serious."

"Don't say that." He hissed, "It makes it worse."

"Oh, does it? Then I shall say it all I can - I'm very, very serious, Link. Zelda would whole-heartedly approve of my pronouncing ownership of you - a lavish celebration would likely be in order, not unlike a…" He cut himself off.

"Like a what?" Link mumbled, glancing over one shoulder.

Sheik had stopped smiling. He almost looked shell-shocked. "… I… I was going to say wedding. Goddesses, they'll try to marry her off, won't they? Now that he's dead…" Sheik stood back up.

Link flinched. "I… don't know anything about all that."

Fingers trailing the wall behind him, Sheik sighed and answered his own question. "Yes, they will. Suppose I will be fighting tooth and nail after this brief interlude." Under his fingers something clicked. A satisfied noise had Link crossing the hall to see what Sheik was pleased about.

Sheik guided his hand along the wall.

"You feel it, don't you?"

A shudder racked him. Magic hummed from the wall, seeping around his fingers and up to the hand on his wrist.

"You know, I heard something about King Dodongo being revived…" Link muttered while he searched his bag.

"King… Dodongo?"

"You remember that last time I saw you, when I was covered in scrapes and burns?"

A snort. "You stunk of sulphur - how could I _forget?_"

He got a dirty look for that before Link continued, "Thanks, Sheik, love you too - King Dodongo. Giant…" Sheik pretended not to hear these next few words, "…cking Dodongo, ate everything."

"I see. And it used you as a chew toy, eh? Monsters seem to like you for that…" Expression contemplative, he leaned back and kept an intent stare trained on Link.

"Don't get any ideas." Link shot back, very serious - and maiming his own affect with a happy noise that proclaimed he found what he wanted. Light reflected off it, cheerful as the noon sun.

"… a jar of water." Sheik deadpanned. "All of that, for a jar of water?" the other male, busy as he was gulping down said water, didn't reply right away.

"What, were you expecting the hammer? No way, Sheik - these walls are what's holding the tunnel up." Then he held out the half-empty jar and tilted his head.

Sheik rolled his eyes, took it and sipped - no harm done. Or something.

Whilst Sheik stood back and drank and probably wished in the privacy of his mind that it was a delicious beastie's lifeblood, or perhaps that of a fresh virgin sacrifice to Volvagia, Link looked around the tunnel.

"Perhaps we should check up on that, then." Referring, Link hoped, to King Dodongo, "After all, it should be rather easy to verify - either the skeleton is there or it is not, and its doubtful…" It dawned on him, then, that Link should be jumping his throat- eh, jumping _down_ his throat with questions on just how he knew about the skeleton because _yes, _he had stalked Link throughout his journey and made as much clear to him, but Link had trouble grasping it, and that, therefore, something was wrong. He refocused his gaze, expecting him to have fallen down a mysterious rabbit-hole or some other nonsense but his companion still sat there. He was gazing blankly at something under a ridge of stone.

Sheik slunk over to him and dropped.

"… oh." He mumbled, staring.

Beneath the ledge a big, toothless grin came back.

_Oh_.

It kind of shuddered, writhing in the shadows.

_Oh_.

Link let out a keen, snatching up the mastersword - Sheik figured he knew that it would do him no good where the thing was, but some security blankets were bladed. With as little obtrusiveness as possible, the sheikah ran his hand down his side to a pouch on his hip. A bombchu was asking for trouble in here…

Another wriggle brought its little repulsive smile closer to them. Blackish bone gleamed.

"Link." He murmured, nudging the hero with his shoulder.

Link choked, eyes darting to him for a second before returning to the morbidly adorned creature.

"Link… I need you to hold your breath and shut your eyes a minute, okay?"

Another shudder, a barely-there nod. "Now, Link." He whispered, heard the catch of breath, and clicked the release. He tossed it.

The thing _howled_-Goddesses above, it made his stomach turn and his throat ache with _want_ while he pressed Link along down the hall, away from the vapors. Crystal gleamed over the hot stone and the still-grinning face.

"It's a skull…" Link mumbled, turning a horrified stare to him. The ice began to melt - and the little thing behind the skull began to pulsate softly, almost hinting at red…

_Oh_.

Sheik made a sincerely unhappy noise while the explosion shook the hall - a few bits of rock smacked him on the forehead. Link made similar noises from on top, where he had oh-so-thoughtfully pinned Sheik to the gritty ground.

"You could've just said something." He pointed out to the moaning and groaning hero. _Dumbass_.

"Sorry I don't think when something is about to _explode._" Link grumbled back, cradling his head. Still, he didn't move, which Sheik felt was poor progress. The hero glanced around and paled.

Half-stricken stares were always amusing - Sheik looked after his gaze and found an empty socket gazing back at the petrified Link. "Why hello," He mused, reaching out to pick up the skull. "Suppose you gorons have quite the thick heads - why, the thinnest parts are only cracked."

Scrambling a second later freed his midsection of a horrible suffering - Link had been digging in his elbows - and while the hero did his damnedest to corner himself inside a _tunnel_, staring in horror, Sheik continued to examine the remains. "… this… didn't come from the explosion." He noted, running his fingers along an indent in it.

Link stared at the dull thing, hung in his fingers like a common artifact and not the final remnants of someone's existence. "Then what is it?" Was forced from his lips while he remembered big, smiling faces with flesh still intact and bright eyes instead of void sockets…

Again Sheik's fingers traced the impression. "Something was gnawing it.

* * *

"… what?" Breath shuddered and almost stopped. He tried to pick it back up, make it normal again.

Eyes of red ran over the gruesome thing. "Something scraped its teeth along the skull."

"… like, while he was still…?"

"I can't say." Sheik hummed. The teeth were blunt - he didn't feel the need to tell Link that. Rocking back onto his arms and shoulder blades, he sprung up.

"… how did you do that?" Sidetracking was something Link did often, and Sheik figured it helped him stay sane.

"You just watched me do it." He pointed out, still staring at the skull.

Link moved a little closer, gut curling and clenching.

Red eyes flickered up to watch him bite his lip. Link's fingers came closer and brushed the skull.

"… its pulsing…" He muttered, and though still pale and horrified he let his eyes flit shut.

Sheik gave a thoughtful stare to the skull between them.

_Suffering_.

He didn't believe in omens, but that was another thing he kept to himself.

Link hissed. Sheik closed his eyes and grasped for the pulse.

Faint tinges of magic brushed his conscious, scratching without damage. Ineffectual malevolence.

"Is it biting you?" Link mumbled.

"Yes."

Without another word the hero took off down the corridor, Sheik on his heels.

Garnet and magma red blurred in his vision – heat pressed in as a gag, stifling every sense. He felt the wind pull when Sheik shot around him.

Something about the wall caught his attention.

He stopped, almost slamming into the red barrier, and began exploring the stone.

The floor grumbled.

* * *

Something rumbled. The cavern ceiling dropped bits of dust; steam rose up from a ring of jagged stones.

* * *

Sheik scowled at the arch of ruby and mahogany earth, hissing. There was a layer of magic lingering just under the surface that was begging him to draw out its roots. His mind sunk into the stone, searching for a source, a direction like the one that had led them there. The faintest tinge of a thread caught in his mind, and as he began to unravel it he heard the shout. The string broke. Red eyes darted to where Link had just been, and Sheik swore as the last few pebbles tumbled down into darkness.

_Like a rabbit hole…_He thought, scrambling down the tunnel – it was steep, like a trap he'd read skulltula made in southern forests, and he heard more bits of rock and earth make skittering descent. The stone was smooth and slicked with something reminding of lantern oil – he really hoped it wasn't, in a place like Dodongo's cavern… He wasn't sure how he made it down without slipping. To his honest relief, it bottomed out into a new network of tunnels instead of a lake of molten rock. But Link wasn't there.

* * *

Chapter end

WTFWTFWTF Link, what are you doing, why are you telling Sheik this?

FFFFFFFF I didn't think he'd tell Sheik. They're taking over…

On the grieving – when my grandfather died earlier this year, I actually had fluid changes of mood like Sheik and Link have when they find out about the king. I don't know why or whether its normal, but I alternated between smiling and crying quite often.

Most of the fairytale is symbolic (and up for interpretation, but the Moon and Sun and Dark/ness, of course the lion, and even the Wind are symbolic of specific people in the story. And I'm sure you all know who the _oppressive_ dark is.

According to my dictionary's definition of bad, this is the root; (its funny, and since theyre around the era where the transition was made…) "[13th century. Perhaps Old English_ bǣddel_ "effeminate man"]" thank you, word 2000's dictionary. Using you for strange things brings me great joy.

_Help is on the way _by _Rise against _really helped me get into the feel of Sheik's grieving.

The reason the day the war ended was terrible as well as wonderful was that now that they weren't fighting, they had no reason to stave off their grief, and the full weight of everything crashed in. as well as Link being an adult and unable to return to the kokori (who, to be fair, were kind of shitty to him to begin with but he took what he could get)

Any of you who've been in Dodongo's cavern for more than five minutes knows that everything in there has the annoying tendency to attack you and then explode when you hit back. Sore-fucking-losers. Skull beastie was, by the way, a baby dodongo with a skull stuck on its head. People and animals do all kinds of weird (or stupid, depending who you ask) shit. Anybody with a hedgehog can tell you about their tendency to stick -empty- toilet paper rolls on their heads before wandering about. Why can't baby Dodongo's do that to skulls?

Answer: They totally can, because that would be sweet. (What, the same way Pyramid head is sweet?)


	6. Crash a supernova

Review responses:

Sunnepho: Thanks! I was really happy and relieved after reading your comment –grin- and because of you, even more background is being run over. My story just got bigger –vaguely horrified laugh-

Trolly's Bara-chan – I told you I had no self-control, right? And whether or not Link just wandered off… now you'll know!

* * *

**Chapter 6: Song of flames and metal. (/lets crash a/Supernova)**

_Heat_ rippled across his skin in tangible waves. The earth around him pulsed and grumbled like a dragon, unnervingly akin to its insides.

Fire-hewn air shrieked along the corridors, sporadic and vicious threats on his life.

He followed the middle path – the right had dropped quickly to lava, the left emptied itself into total dark.

Along the center trail, though, the mingling scents of clean magic, sweat and hylian blood lingered, and a trail of long steps was left in on the stone.

The earth growled around him, a sense of forbidden secrets rising up in the darkness. What was down there? Did he really want to find out?

… Link was somewhere in the darkness. It didn't matter _what_ he found out – Link had to be kept safe.

_Thump thump thump_

He watched the darkness quietly.

_Thump thump thump_

When he rounded the bend in the tunnel, a dead dodongo's skull greeted him. It was as big as he was. Surprise of the millennium, but he didn't find this reassuring. This one had teeth marks, too. Bigger ones. He traced one finger through a gully, narrowing his eyes. When he inhaled, he caught more hylian-scents – when he squinted he could see, against the dirtied-to-black bone, a smear of blood. The head was blocking the hall – Link had probably scrambled over it, though why he couldn't be certain. Why hadn't he just stayed still? Sheik frowned, cocking his head. _Why didn't you wait? Perhaps... were you looking for a way back up…?_

The marks left in the tunnel – different colored earth from the level above, bits of mud from outside – spoke of him running. And if he was being chased… why didn't he fight?

Sheik frowned, climbing over the mass of stone.

What kind of dodongo got this big, anyway?

Thoughts of that nature dogged his mind until when he looked back the skull was out of sight. He was walking along a bridge of its tail, stretched and winding through the hall. It curved up and into a hole in the ceiling – the tunnel continued past it, behind the bones. Now, which path had Link taken…? _No more blood smears_ – it figured, it should've clotted and dried by now. When he looked over the bones of the tail more carefully though he found a bit of dirt, a different color than the other earth in this portion of the cavern. And in the corridor beyond it, he saw the same dirt. And – closing his eyes and drinking in a breath, he found the whole place tinged with magic. Light and malignant_. Damn it all._

He took off on the ground course, cursing and muttering under his breath. The yawing tunnel opened after about thirty feet to a spacious cavern. Unwelcome, a wave of fiery enchantment crushed against him. It smothered and choked, filling up his lungs like sand and smoke. He looked around the cavern once the first wave had settled- a carved out room with a great ceiling and pits of fire beside lit torches, surrounding what looked like an altar encrusted with red gems resembling the stone of fire… in the background a statue loomed towards the ceiling. Between the altar room and where he stood was a space too wide between for him to leap it.

The pit betwixt he and the ground promised broken limbs and puncture wounds from jagged rocks, though the monsters he'd somewhat expected were conspicuously absent. At the very least, he knew where they'd find their problem.

Now, though, he just had to find the hero. Eyeing the distance one last, distain-filled time, he took off back down the corridor towards the tail-turned-ladder. As he scrambled up it, the world once again rumbled. Wanting again to swear, and not sure why he held himself back, he shot down the hall at the top. Following the path of spent magic unwaveringly, he considered their situation; whatever he was up to, if Link wasn't careful he'd burn himself out. Sheik scowled under his cowl – Navi hadn't been with them when they'd come in, but she'd certainly be handy about _now_. Finding Link was her greatest talent – well, that or driving Link to suicide by shouting 'hey! Listen'… Sheik shook his head. Now wasn't the time to poke fun at Navi.

He made his way down the new corridor above the hole, cocking his head.

_Thudthudthudthudthud-_

Overlaid with frantic wing beats. Black whizzed around the corner in front of him, shrieking. He eyed the gem-bright eyes. So now in about a second…

"Ack!" -Link barreled into him.

Sheik caught him so his arms were pinned to his sides. "What the-! Let go of me-" Being a naturally contrary person, Sheik held tighter while the hero begin to curse and struggle, until thankfully he looked up and realized who it was. "… Sheik?"

_No, Link. The great fairy. _"Hello." He returned dryly, arms still wrapped around Link's sides. The crow circled them warily and cawed.

"I've never seen one in here before." Link said thoughtfully, shifting his head to watch the bird circle. Sheik shrugged. Somehow, he doubted a crow had gotten lost up the mountain. And those eyes… Another caw tried to shatter their ear drums, then the crow took off down the corridor. Sheik bit back a sigh and reluctantly released Link, who immediately took off after the bird. He followed hero and gravely misplaced avian until a bright-lit end to the tunnel appeared. The bird circled Link once before coming to rest at his shoulder. It pecked insistently at his tunic – just above his collarbone.

The stone rumbled again. Sheik stepped carefully out, eyeing the corridor around him. Something gleamed, and he looked up to see, high in a shadow, a slice of red. When he looked closer, he just made out a statue, reminding of armos, but bigger than any he'd ever seen. Vastly bigger… he narrowed his eyes at it, before quietly circling the platform.

Link cocked his head at the crow, tapping the spot it was attacking. The amulet of Iblis... his eyes widened. Wing beats echoed in his ears when the black bird took off again, this time for the altar. It cried for Sheik's attention now.

Searching for clues to a beast as it was, Sheik ignored his lesser problem. "It's down here somewhere." He called to Link, who looked a little scuffed and burnt. "Are you ready?" Sheik continued, and gave an irritated stare to the insistent bird before approaching it. The room shuddered.

"… ah, Sheik?" Link squeaked from somewhere to his left – Sheik imagined he'd been looking around for a source. It sounded like… "I don't think it will really factor in." Feeling not the least bit fond of those words, Sheik turned around. The statue took another step towards them.

"… how in Farore's name are we gonna kill that?"

* * *

Link sounded more incredulous than afraid, Sheik thought. That was encouraging. This beast would fall too. It raised a stone claymore to crush that hope – they dove away, the sword shattering the ground and sending up a spray of dust.

_That should have broken the sword, too._ Sheik grimaced. If their half-tested mixture of caution and luck didn't win out… they would be ripped to pieces. Or more likely crushed. Glancing at Link, who'd grit his jaw and started digging in his bag while he ran around the menacing golem's feet, he concluded the other was just as fond as he of the thought of being reduced to a bloody stain.

_**BANG**_

He jolted, swiveling his head to see a jarred Link wielding the megaton hammer. He'd brought it down on the monster's foot… and had barely cracked it.

Sheik swore and flew across the distance, snagged a hand in Link's tunic and hauled him away – the foot he'd attacked slammed back down where he'd been a heartbeat before. It groaned above them, shifting to follow their progress.

Link squinted up at it, still holding the hammer. Sheik wished he'd put it away. "We need to get under cover and talk." Sheik grit out, glancing around. "Link – far right."

The hero grunted and they took off, the golem twisting slowly to follow them when they cleared its feet. It lumbered after them, though quicker than Sheik would've liked, and was reaching out to paw them when they slipped under and overhand. The unwelcome grinding of stone chased them and the wall of earth shook.

Looking out they saw it had caught its horns on the rockface…

Firelight gleamed brightly in the red gem on its chest – a garnet dancing with fire and blood. The monster growled and groaned once more and, before they could decide to attack or take reprieve, it reached up and fastened one hand firmly about the horn. And then it _pulled,_ until it broke off in a shower of dirt and sharp pebbles that rained down around it…

Link groaned. The horns were massive… he watched the one be tossed across the room, sending up great plumes of dust and an explosion of shattered rock. A glance back at it confirmed his suspicions… its head had too much weight on one side now. He stared up at the thing in fascinated horror for a heartbeat, then glanced to his companion.

"What about the head?"

"Worth a shot." Sheik grunted, running to the side before tossing a deku nut. Link eyed him like he'd lost it – he glanced back at him and gave a nod – _oh, alright, so you can read my mind, and you ARE crazy. Good to know. -_ and the monster turned to him.

_Come on… you know you want to… _Sheik grinned under his cowl when the colossal blade was raised to him, and leapt back just before it crashed into the earth. The horrible thing took a moment to steady itself, almost falling to the side still adorned with a horn. Red and brown blurred at the corners of his eyes as he shot upwards over the stone sword, reaching into a pouch at his side… a bomb was flung up and exploded, to little avail, in the thing's face.

Little cracks ran across the space between its eyes. Unasked, the image of it ripping off its own horn flashed in his mind. He scrambled upwards to alight atop of its head, and heard the distant noise of Link running on the stone floor. One hand flew up to smash him – he jumped.

The hand sung back to its side with bits of crumbled stone trailing it and glanced him, knocking him off course. Half-stunned, he stared upwards.

Hitting the ground made him scream. Link was right beside him, wide-eyed and staring up at the monster, helping him to sit.

Sheik growled, pressing along his ribs. Red and white lines exploded across his vision, but he could still see. As for his ribs, they'd cracked in the back… and he'd have bruises for a good long while. He looked up to see what had so thoroughly grasped his companion's attention.

A rather gruesome sight met him. The golem had thoroughly destroyed its own head, to the point where only bits of the neck were left above its shoulders. It swayed and shook before tumbling downward and shaking the entire cavern when it hit. Now fallen to the stone floor, it stayed still and supine so they could see, very clearly, the emptiness and still-crumbling stone where the head had been smashed to bits. Cracks lined the shoulders, and the horn that had remained was half-shattered on the ground further off from them than the body.

Link sagged against his side and although he really shouldn't be holding someone else's weight, not with his ribs, he didn't push him away. "… Farore." The hero mumbled. Far more accustomed to things keeling over and dying, Sheik snorted. Honestly, after everything that had happened and every monster slain…

"Shouldn't you be used to this?"

"Ah- no. No. Never got used to it." Link mumbled, eyeing up the headless neck in distaste. It wasn't his worst trait, Sheik mused. That would have to be his pigheaded stubbornness. Which, technically, Sheik possessed too but- _ahem_. Getting off subject.

One sigh later he pushed himself up, idly dragging one green-clad hero with him as well.

Link mused something about he himself not being necessary. Sheik snorted. "Don't be ridiculous, Link – of course you are. You get the honor of dragging my sorry carcass out of here." _And_ _listening to me once the pain is replaced by blissful, insanity-inducing hormones._

"So a reversal of past times." Link returned, less cheerfully than he perhaps should have.

"I suppose."

The ground grumbled.

Sheik looked back, already dreading. Link swore.

* * *

**Chapter end** - Doesn't everyone hate disc-one bosses?

Anonymous voice: Everyone is going to hate _you_ in a minute.

Also: please let me know how you felt about the golem's crushed head thing.

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	7. Supposed to be the same

Trolly's bara-chan: Thanks. Hahaha... it doesn't 'mind' anything. It's difficult to explain, but while it processes things, it doesn't actually think. Like a computer, I guess (I'm not well versed in how computers work, even though my mom is, but I'm fairly certain only certain specifically designed programs 'think'). It's only instinct and impulse is to destroy anything that is alive, (identified by magic, which every living thing in this world possesses.)

Because I don't think it will ever be included, I'll tell you. The bird was sent by Iblis. Link chased it because he's genre savvy, and knows that if something is out of place, its probably important. The only reason I don't mind mentioning this is it seems pretty obvious to me. In a videogame, if it doesn't belong there and yet it is, you know there's a point.

He was nodding about something else entirely - 'I'm going to run up this things blade now and try to destroy it, get ready to attack or hide', and Link was being a smartass, because Sheik is rubbing off on him so bad.

I can't be serious about monsters. Link is scared silly by a dodongo baby with a skull on its head, but you give him a giant golem and his immediate reaction is 'FOOT STOMP.' which failed, but still.

But Sheik can usually read Link. Usually.

They are, which is great since they started out with Link worse off than Sheik in terms of energy. Then again, that's probably what saved him - no energy to run up giant stone swords.

Sunnepho: Thank you! I love writing Sheik's thoughts, since he's got a kind of 'seen it all' attitude for monsters. Indeed, you may be disappointed, but there is a point to it all.

Please don't get used to these super common updates!

* * *

**Chapter 7 Crash and burn (or shatter and fade)**

(aren't we supposed to be the same?)

* * *

A litany of foul words he would never, ever dream of uttering under any other circumstance spilled from his lips. The golem shuddered and began to stand, little trails of dust tracing its path from the neck. Sheik's warmth at his side did little to assuage the ice running through him. Fire chased on its tail.

He glanced towards Sheik – he was already looking around the cavern for… something. His gaze settled on the overhang that they'd hidden under before. Come to think of it… "It didn't break when he crashed into it." Link mumbled, and Sheik glanced at him.

The monster raised its sword again. "If we can't kill it…" Sheik began suggestively, watching the path of the blade.

They leapt apart when it crashed down.

Link took off for its ankles, and heard Sheik tossing bombs and foul phrases towards the monster. The rush and whistle of wind from its sword rung in his ears, and he felt the whole place shudder. Bits of dust drifted down from the towering ceiling.

If they couldn't find a way to destroy this thing soon…

He heard a decisive crack of rock and looked upwards. The golem seemed perplexed even headless, its sword lodged partway in the stone face. One flash of red made him think the other was back, but no – just the gem on the golem's chest. Sheik was nowhere to be seen. Another crack echoed around – some rocks loosened themselves from the ceiling, crashing around the room. Two loud bangs from behind in particular made him nervous – their entrance was around there.

One final crackle heralded the armos's leading hand – right – breaking off at the wrist. It stayed wrapped around the sword lodged in the stone. He narrowed his eyes at it. Presuming from what he'd already seen, it was likely that only the stone attached to its body was animated. Once it was broken off… it was just stone. Alright. He could… they could work with that. A flash of blue in the corner of his gaze told him Sheik had reappeared. Looking upwards found him throwing bo-shuriken systematically at the golem. Link frowned. Wasn't there something wrong with his side, he shouldn't be… "Agh!" the needles bounced off harmlessly and he had to dive away lest one catch him. Once he was out of range of the weapons, just a little worse for wear, Link cocked his head at the golem. He'd brought his longshot… and plenty of bombs. One short decision later had him aiming and firing. _I am dead._ That was his consideration as he flew through the air to cling to the wall. Blue-flashing-red whizzed across the space between the wall and the beast, thoroughly distracting it and simultaneously pissing off Sheik. It took a certain rare talent.

That one stone hand came swinging around to smack at him. He dropped from the stone and reshot so he was delivered safely from the one-armed beast's clutches, letting go again to alight upon the floor.

The golem had taken up an interest in Sheik once more it seemed, turning and reaching to paw at him where he was doing things Link didn't even think were possible near the ceiling. He really shouldn't have been up there at all, but they were safer apart and besides… where he was now, he couldn't get in the way of this. He couldn't do what Sheik was, but he could still attack the thing from the ground.

Taking his bow in his hands, he slotted an arrow enchanted with ice. Shooting for cracks he could barely make out wasn't the most desirable of options, but… he crossed his fingers. A few hit the mark spot-on – they sunk in and widened the cracks, magic spreading like blood in veins. Regrettably, the little pieces it was losing weren't slowing it – they didn't have time to wear it down. Red gleamed on its chest – that had been irritating him, because he would think it was Sheik but… no. He slotted another arrow and aimed for the gem. For half a second, the room stilled. Stone froze and the light's flicker cut out for a second. Link's arrow stayed fast in the red.

The golem turned towards him, ominous and looming and… damn, he hated fighting these things. "Hit that spot again!" Sheik called to him, bordering on manic while he slithered back into range of their target.

"_What?_" His throat felt terribly dry. Sheik wasn't in the mood for it.

"Do it!" The sheikah insisted, and he reslotted the bow. And let go.

One, two, three…

One, two three…

Became half a dozen, and Sheik swore. Every shot froze it just a little bit, let it stall and just miss Sheik twisting through the air, Link running from under its feet…

The gem was damn-near shattered yet still stayed as one thing, arrows jutting from it obscenely like a pierced heart – which, if Sheik's supposition was correct, it very much was – and the golem whipped itself into a frenzy, slamming into everything. More boulders scattered the room.

He went to slot the bow, fired empty air, and _damn it all_, but he was out of arrows. Somewhere across the cave, he heard Sheik hit the ground.

No arrows, no arrows, no arrows… Link smiled. It was… not a good smile, more akin to the look of one deranged. His laugh made Sheik shudder, so nervous and over-taxed and an octave higher than usual.

He pulled out his longshot.

"… Link." Sheik's eyes had grown large, and he tried to keep his voice calm while edging slowly towards the other. The golem reacted to stronger motions. "What are you doing?"

"I have no idea." Admitted the man with the still-crazed smile, before he fired his longshot… straight towards the gem.

* * *

Sheik sincerely wished for just a moment, a breadth of time in infinity, to stare in blatant disbelief.

Regrettably, he knew better than that and took off with obligatory and sincere prayers beseeching the Goddesses above and God below to _please, please keep that idiot from _**killing himself.**

Whatever insane thing he was planning, Sheik was only slightly ashamed to admit he'd go along with it instead of beating some sense into that moronic hero. _Then again, having someone try to knock sense into him could have caused this in the first place. Too many hits to the head._ He tossed off another bomb – he was running low, but they were loud and violent, and made the monster look his way – and scrambled along the wall, while Link took to hacking at the gem until he was knocked off, before manically laughing and long-shotting his way back up there to repeat the process. As he flung his last bomb and dropped back to the floor, he realized Link had finally and truly lost it. (Not that this was the first time. Bongo bongo could attest if he wasn't… never mind.)

The one hand was reaching up to swat Link when Sheik threw – quite unwillingly – his dagger at it. It sunk into the gem neatly beside Link's sword – the hero used them together to lever in the gem – _**CRACK **_– and the arm froze in place.

He sighed – he'd liked that dagger. Boots scrambling over stone echoed around the room when the lunatic began his descent.

… Then again, he also liked Link. Quite a lot, actually. A dagger wasn't even close to being worth the alternative.

The stone groaned and shuddered – Link scrambled towards him when their now-vanquished foe finally succumbed to the strain and cracks and shatters, and crashed to the earth, some bits in more pieces than others. Sheik carefully made his way over to it, up across the chest to the shattered gem. An understandable hesitance echoed off Link but he soon followed, crouching beside the sheikah. His eyebrows drew together and underneath his mask he frowned.

Link's paler hand came to rest beside his on the body of broken enchantment.

"… Oh." He murmured softly. The agreement Sheik had in mind for that statement wasn't exactly smiled upon, but he uttered it heedless.

"Shit."

Under their fingers shadow magic curled and wriggled. The very same shadow magic Sheikah wielded.

Link felt his sense of relief crumble like shattered stones, and ice settled in his heart. One hand came up to clutch through his tunic the amulet with the horribly red gem. He closed his eyes. _Is this what you meant? _he wondered, clenching it in fear-numbed fingers.

And the amulet whispered back, _Yes. _

* * *

(to disappear…)

* * *

**(chapter 7 end)**

Bo-shuriken – needle or similarly shaped shuriken/thrown projectiles. (not all shuriken are ninja stars.)

Some of you may recall from an earlier note that I lost it in the bongo bongo fight when I ran out of arrows. I thought the image of that happening to Link would be funny, so I included it. Also, it helps attest to where he got this… special… idea.

This chapter was so… super… short. I don't even…


	8. Tell it wrong

Trolly's Bara-chan: MWAHAHAHA! That's a secret!

Sunnepho: You'd think, but you'd be horribly wrong. Link HAS developed a tendency to attack eyes though, thanks to the ungodly number of monsters that have them as a weak point.

I can explain hearts from monsters, rupees from lakes and rivers and fields, and arrows and the like from grass (and all of it from broken pottery), but rocks will take some work.

Thanks. Overarching? What?

Many, many thanks to the both of you. You spoil me with your reviews.

And I hope ALL of you enjoy this very long update. Sure makes up for last chapter, right? –hides-

* * *

**Chapter 8 – The fairytale at the bottom of the universe (everyone always tells it wrong)**

Skulls rested in the ditch. Just… skulls. Gorons, dodongos, and many more he couldn't quite make out. Insult heaped onto injury had them discover that both ways in (and, more importantly, out) were blocked. Yes, even the one across the ditch that Sheik couldn't leap. Link tried to think happy thoughts.

Then he remembered an abhorrent one. Shadow magic… "Hey, Sheik?"

Sheik sighed, nestled in some shadows by the wrecked altar. "What is it?" He murmured, one eye cracking open to watch him.

"I… you remember that thing I told you about Iblis?" He bit his lip. If there was a state of affairs they had to avoid before anything, this was it, and they were settled into the middle rather neatly. There wasn't a person in the kingdom that didn't see darkness as evil. And the sheikah were drenched so thoroughly in it Ganondorf himself had been envious.

"Of course." He replied in a more alert tone, with his eye wider and tracing Link's face carefully. Even without knowing the _everything_ of the matter – and Link didn't, quite, either - he knew exactly how bad this was going to get. And knowing their luck, it would get worse than that.

"Iblis told me that he… wanted me to find something. The 'brightest one'. I wasn't sure what he meant, but I'm starting to think it's a person. He said that they would snuff out the shadows if they weren't stopped. He said that it would… kill you." He muttered. Sheik raised one eyebrow, and chuckled.

But… the brightest person he knew… was Zelda…

"Cute." He said wryly, touching one hand to his ribs. Link didn't think so, but he decided to shut up before the part of Sheik that insisted on mothering him realized he was getting away with a lot of lunacy as of late.

"… so… how are we going to get out?" He wondered. The lyre Sheik so loved was back in the castle because prolonged exposure to the heat could very well ruin it, and Link's ocarina was… just an ocarina. He'd given back the ocarina of time a while ago (he wasn't sure how he'd managed to keep the mastersword) although, the Other him had been allowed to keep the ocarina, in that time… those thoughts dissipated in a burst of smoke as his companion hissed, shutting his eye again.

"… Link." He sounded frustrated, and the hero canted his head to listen. "I… have a way we could get out."

How he managed to make that sound _bad_ was a mystery, though Link too had some misgivings when it came to returning to the outside world. And… the castle.

_The king is dead. _

_(Death around me isn't exactly new.) _Echoes of someone who was and wasn't himself cried out in his head.

_He hadn't meant to hit the bag – he'd just wanted to stop him, but he… the bag flashed white, and red went over everything and that moon, it should've hid the color, it should've-_

_That man didn't exist, anymore. _

After the battle, he was numb to it. Dead… He looked upwards at the monster's corpse and shattered heart. Dead.

"What's wrong?" Link asked softly, struggling to his feet before slinking over and collapsing just beside the Sheikah. Without the golem's magic, the torches had gone out one by one until just one final light remained, flickering uncertainly in the dark.

"… I don't have the energy." He admitted softly, so Link canted his head to hear.

"We have rations…" he began in considering tones, a kind of numb dread settling into his heart. _We have to get out of here. I don't want to disappear in the dark like this. I don't…_

'_I don't want to die.'_

"I don't have the _energy_." Sheik cut in bluntly, giving him a sharp look. Energy… if not food, then what in Hyrule was he…

"… oh." He blinked, and tried to make his eyes less… wide.

"Oh." Sheik agreed unhappily.

* * *

"… Well, I like living." Link decided a few minutes later – they were spent cursing and crying about delicate instruments that couldn't be brought into the heat of Dodongo's cavern, and wooden non-magical ocarinas – "So… yeah." Sheik gave him an incredulous look.

"Thats it, then? 'So yeah'?" He asked dryly. Link nodded.

"We've got places to be." Another disbelieving look was tossed his way. Sheik was good at those, he found. Really good.

He really wished Sheik would knock it off, though, because the more time they took the more he wanted to rethink this decision. It really wasn't an easy one the first time. But… he had made a choice, and… disappearing into the oblivion of death… he couldn't. It wasn't an option.

"I trust you." He added carefully, and guessed from the way Sheik pulled back and his eye widened that that wasn't what he was expecting, but probably what he needed to hear since he leant back and held out one hand a second after.

"… Alright."

Link watched with barely concealed trepidation as Sheik's cowl was pulled down, and fangs gleamed in the firelight so they looked impossibly sharp. He wondered, with a vague sense of terror, what it would feel like when they sunk into his skin.

"… um… is it… is it going to hurt?" Even as he asked, he placed his wrist in the other's grip. Sheik glanced up while he pulled back the white sleeve, eyebrows up and eyes gleaming.

"Well… yes," He began, sounding perplexed. "I mean, at least at first. Something will be pressing into you… I'm not sure. I… I suppose it could be pleasurable." He scratched the back of his head, leaning most of his weight on the altar. His fingers stilled on Link's arm.

… _ah_. Link tried to pull back, then, and Sheik let him.

Coughing and barely managing to keep his gaze on Sheik, he pursed his lips. "Well… have you ever had it done to you?" He wondered while looking over the altar cloth beside him because wasn't that _interesting?_ Why, that infinitesimally small snag in the stitches, it certainly was important he memorize it!

"Erm. No, no, I don't believe I have." Sheik frowned, the faintest hint of heat appearing in his face. Good, this was awkward for Sheik too. Link tried to keep the vindictive satisfaction from taking over, but it was balancing out the embarrassment to a bearable point.

The silence hovered between them a while, gazes meeting and breaking off with alarming frequency, until enough became enough. Well…

"One way to find out." Link breathed out in a rush, flushing, and came into reach.

"Of course," Sheik muttered back, just as flustered, and took Link's wrist up for the second time. "… so… I suppose you wouldn't want it to hurt, then?"

Link gave him a wide-eyed look. Of all the things he shouldn't ask… "Uh… could you…?" They really should… move the topic away from this territory. The light was covering up a lot of red in both of their visages, but not all, and it was getting terribly obvious that neither of them were in familiar grounds, let alone friendly ones… He supposed it was better than if Sheik had had the ability to be _nonchalant_ about it. He probably would have gone insane if Sheik treated this casually.

"If you wanted me to…"Another awkward pause. "Or I could… be very careful so you barely feel…"

"Uh, just not hurting is fine." Link mumbled, and looked away. He could still see at the corner of his eyes, though, and it took everything to keep from jumping out of his skin. Sheik brought the wrist to his mouth and pressed his lips to it. His eyes, Link noticed, glossed over the slightest bit so they were a shimmering red instead of the hue of half-dried blood.

Soft wetness touched his skin and made him jolt. "What are you doing?" He demanded breathlessly with his trepidation renewed.

"Looking for a vein," Sheik answered, not pulling back from his wrist. His eyes flit shut. Breath and warmth on his skin made Link shudder. Far too long a time later – less than ten heartbeats - Sheik found what he was looking for and pressed in.

His teeth didn't just look it - they really _were_ sharp, like the teeth of keese that drank from other animals. They slipped into Link's skin terribly easy and he caught himself staring – not just at the corner of his eye but head on, open _staring_ - at what he could, fixated on the morbid spectacle.

Sheik pulled them out again and ran his fingers in a very gentle way over the back of Link's arm where he held it. His eyes had gone glassier than before, his pupils disappeared in a sea of red, and there was a soft little smile touching on the edges of his lips. Something about it, painted faintly in the lines of his face, told Link it wasn't Sheik's smile in the truest sense. A pink tongue poked out and lapped the blood that ran quietly from the wound. He wasn't rough at all, but his eyes were shining like possessing gems and it wasn't really Sheik he was looking at, and there was something terribly uncomfortable about the whole thing, something deeper. And Link tried not to think about the more intimate implications that his mind could form.

And they _really_ wanted to form. The blood kept flowing, longer than he knew it ever should've. Watching the faint red gleam of his own life slipping out, he wondered why it didn't clot. The firelight flickered and sputtered, but didn't draw his eyes from Sheik's face, or his too-clean wrist, or the tan fingers holding it so gently. The blood kept leaking. Eventually he resolved to ask, but… later. Now he wasn't sure he could form words. Or… syllables…

An implication he had really been doing so well to avoid popped into his mind, watching Sheik's gentle smile and the blood brushing on his lips, which he licked clean with nary a thought.

_Oh, __**damn it.**_ Link came to the unfortunate realization - through his pounding heart and the feeling of lightness in his head - that his face was on fire. At that point, he wondered how Sheik was getting any blood from his arm at all.

* * *

The last torch flickered out just when Sheik pulled back, and he tugged on Link until their shoulders touched. Blackness was barely returned to his eyes, and there was still a sense of hazy, feral instinct in the way he smiled and moved. The hands on Link became languid and protective.

Melodic words stood out in the darkness, slow and gentle, and then in a flash of indigo they were in a sunny room again. Rough hewn earth was replaced with polished smooth stone. _Sleep_ crashed against him, a command and a tidal wave, and Sheik slumped over.

_Too much magic… he overdid it._ Link considered hazily, though he wasn't sure if he meant his own magic or Sheik's spell. Light spilled across them, warm and gentle, and he really wanted… to give into that warmth against him. So, succumbing to the fluttering feeling in his chest, and the waves of dizziness that washed over him, he closed his eyes just a second. And then he collapsed from a combination of blood loss and exhaustion.

_How much magic do those spells take, anyway?_

* * *

White corridors yawned into everlasting light on either side of him, stretching on into nothingness or perhaps opening up entire worlds, he really couldn't be certain. Strands of amber and gold faded in and out of existence like a skulltula's silk, brushing against his face softly before evanscing. There was one window down the hall – he moved towards it, and settled into a shaft of sunlight. But outside it was only day for a second.

The sunlight was swallowed by stormy skies, and the beautiful world melted into a wasteland, filled with smoke and corpses. He watched from the window as men and woman ran screaming from something unseen, but he couldn't move. He watched the darkness swallow up everything, but he couldn't move.

A spectre flickered in the darkness – Iblis emerged in a plume of smokeless fire, a sad look on his face. Chains kept him in place. Crows settled in the carnage cried to him, and flew up carrying balls of light like wingless fae… they all were red, a sad color like shattered garnets and drops of blood on a stone floor, and dissipated in his pale-grey hands when Iblis took them.

The darkness swallowed everything. The black curtain had closed, and he supposed that act was over.

Light scattered in again, slowly, and the world had changed. Walls upon walls of books and the grinning draugr from the Devil Guard book was leaning in the window which overlooked the desert sky, keening a melody about birds with wings torn cleanly off. The smell of blood was sunk into the space, and looking down Link found circles of it painted on the ground, fresh red and old brown and ancient green all swirling together. One the last note of the song the room flashed white, and stayed white, like the opposite of Iblis's space – a skull clattered onto the nothing before his toes.

In spite of the horror he'd feel in the woken realm, he cocked his head and regarded it with quiet curiosity.

It grinned at him. The light swallowed everything, even the shadows of its face.

…

He woke up in the hold of disconcerting nausea, and groaned. "Bucket." What his mind hazily indentified as Sheik's voice called from somewhere above him, and a wood and metal one was kicked into his hands. Heaving himself up to clutch it, he retched.

"Oh, Link." Someone else's voice, _Zelda's _his foggy mind realized, cooed from above him. It was thick with tears. Soothing words murmured too low for him to hear came in Sheik's rougher tones, and he begged for his stomach to settle. The illness didn't leave him for a while longer regardless, and he used the bucket at least thrice more before his body either decided that it was done, or simply realized the futility of trying to purge itself of nothing. He sat up, passing his tongue over his lips and shuddering with disgust.

"Good morning, Link." Zelda murmured in a subdued voice.

_Remind me, Zelda. What's good about this morning?_ He turned to looked at her with teary eyes, and found the Lady's were worse.

_The King is dead. _He sighed at the darkness whirling through his mind, settling on the floor so he faced them. Sheik, his cowl absent, was sat upon the bed to carefully embrace Zelda. The lady herself was all-but collapsed on him, watching Link with swollen red eyes. "The next time you two go out to kill something, and he gets hurt, please tie him up so he doesn't make it worse." She asked Link tiredly. He knew Sheik was hurt, but…

"What did he do?" He asked, half-worried half-exasperated and fully ignoring the 'I'm still here' glare he and the Lady both received.

"He was running around with broken ribs. He didn't even bother mentioning them to me until I jarred them – he did so by hissing and then denying a problem." Zelda grumbled, giving a sharp look up toward her guardian, who looked in the other direction with all the maturity of a scolded child.

"_Sheik_." Link twitched.

"You have no room to talk." His friend shot back, cradling Zelda to his chest while she laughed in a quiet tone, smiling through the grief.

A second passed before her eyes watered again. Sheik closed his own and stroked her hair. Sitting on the floor feeling awkward, Link remembered the absolutely disgusting bucket in his hand and moved to the window.

He was careful to dump it behind some bushes, and not on anyone's head. (That had really sucked when it happened to him.)

When he turned back Zelda's soft sobbing had died down again, and she was dabbing her face with a cloth. Moving it over her eyes softly, she sniffled once. "Oh, yes…" She caught his gaze, "Link. I found a book you might want... it's on the desk, I just…" She shuddered and sighed, tucking her face away in the crook of Sheik's neck. She kept like that awhile, shaking with little moments of stillness, though no sobs issued.

He looked to Sheik half-nervous, and the other glanced towards the book and twisted his lips. Being able to see them was strange, Link caught himself thinking, even though what seemed like minutes ago they'd been pressed to the pulse of his existence.

Zelda's room was neat as ever – so mostly neat, if he ignored the gown tossed on the floor like a rug or bit of rubbish – and the curtains drawn so she could see the sun. The desk in the corner only had a little bit of light from the window falling upon it, and it touched on the corner of a non-descript black volume. Cracking it open found the title as '_Guide to Cambion, Darkness and other Anomalies of Night. Companion volume to Atlas of Ghouls' - _he frowned, reaching into his hat for the piece of paper from so long ago. Same author.

Somewhat more hopefully he turned the page. The table of contents listed several chapters, for repelling and containing dark magic as well as… using it… a section on Cambion, whatever those precisely were, and a mythology section detailing rituals for Iblis and funerals. He wondered how many rites were usually performed before the bodies were left for the birds. Also, when the King's funeral would be…? Though now wasn't the best of times to ask, his mind was quick to reason. He would find out very soon, anyway…

Sucking in a breath, he looked back up at Zelda. He wished today would end. Right then the future seemed so far away.

About midday, Zelda shooed them from her room on the premise of finding food. Sheik rolled his eyes and found a scarf to cover his face before trotting out, while Link lingered in the doorway. Before he could let himself think better of it, he stepped over and gave Zelda a quick hug, something Saria never failed to do when he was upset, and left. He headed for the castle gates, alone once again. Sheik had disappeared.

* * *

In the dark passage, Impa was waiting. _What happened?_ He knew it was on his face, flashing in waves and spikes of anger. Words really weren't necessary, then – Impa knew him well enough to understand everything. His eyes flickered towards her own, and he cocked his head.

"Poison." She answered tersely, uncrossing her arms. "Very natural-looking."

"How… charming." Sheik muttered, narrowing his eyes. Zelda's teary face echoed in his mind, with the half-lost words written in stone.

… _you who are nameless… to obey… only granted by your master…_

When he found out who'd done it… His fingers clenched. Red streaks painted his mind… he would rip them apart. Across the dark space, Impa watched him quietly. Very clearly she knew the thoughts lingering inside of his mind, but didn't speak back up.

Rage would swallow his grief, and make him efficient.

* * *

Perhaps, on a better occasion, she would be interested in the murmuring of the castle. Other things crowded her thoughts today though, a plague of what-ifs and hazy tears.

Truly it was amazing, how so quickly life could and would change, and plans were made to alter. One day you could be imagining someone with you for years to come - watching you marry, holding your child, pressing a kiss to your forehead and promising you that come what may, you're still his little girl.

But the next day, those thoughts crash to the earth like broken birds and shards of glass shattered, and that possibility, that future disappears. You're alone at that wedding isle - he isn't there to give you away. Your husband comes to hold his new child but there is no quietly beaming face in the background. That kiss, that last kiss, you never get, because that person is gone forever and you can never have those chances back.

The castle around her was barely there, a background event dwarfed by the intensity of her innermost thoughts and feelings. Sadness and little tinges of guilt – _because I loved him, but I love Sheik, and he would always hurt him and I- how could they ask me to-? Please don't let our story end like this, please please please I would give _anything at all- dogged her no matter how noisy the world was, for she was an island unto herself. Isolation was the worst thing a grieving mind could suffer.

Her fingers trailed through her hair, slow and soft, tugging on the knots that had formed. She'd been rushing about as of late… hadn't allowed the maids time to style it, or given herself the little moments necessary in their steed.

There was… still a funeral to plan. Announcements to be sent, formalities to attend. She ordered them written, those strange and dreaded invitations, and sat down to write the most important herself. Tears dripped onto her pages several times, ruining them and forcing a start-over from her very weary fingers. She wished she could just lay down and die herself, but a fact of existing was that she would have to keep walking until the day she simply couldn't. There was no time to linger on the precipice for the living, they had to continue existing on their own until the sands of their own times, too, ran out…

About an hour in, someone knocked softly in the doorframe that she could swear she had blocked with the door itself. So wondering if there had been a particularly overbold servant hired, she dabbed a tissue to her nose and looked upwards. Link fidgeted under her scrutiny, looking very much like he wanted to reach out or run away. Perhaps both, she knew the feeling.

"… come in." She rasped, and winced – her voice cracked in the middle and she let out a half-strangled sob. Link carefully pulled the paper away from her, patting her nearest shoulder awkwardly. Silence lingering like the last light in a sunset sky, they stayed in limbo. She kept her eyes to the page and tried to forget her crowning would be the day after the funeral.

Biting back a sigh, Link settled in the window. Death… was strange, he decided, sometimes good but more often horrible. He knew it was part of the world, integral to existing and irremovable. The eventual fate to everything was to die.

That knowledge wasn't helping his friend, though, or him, or anyone else. In the end, it was just a fact. Cold salve to proof of existence. He could do better – if isolation was the worst gift, then he'd remedy it with companionship. He settled in beside Zelda and prepared for a very long wait.

* * *

The smell of decay lingered in the throne room. The corpse lay on a table in center, patiently awaiting burial. This was the most patient he'd ever been for Sheik... would ever be. Someone had shut his eyes; Sheik slid one open, assessing the pupil, before slipping it shut again.

After this, he was going to take a _very_ long bath. He briefly considered talking Zelda into joining him, mainly because they hadn't sat and talked for a while and she needed to take break to care for herself for a few minutes, which then led to him amusing himself with imagining the faces each maid and lady in the castle would make upon finding out about their shared bathing. The city was so strange.

Back to the present, though. Not a scent of magic on the body. _Then…_ he turned to walk away, heading for the stairs a few halls down. In the- deceased King's room, roped off and barricaded from the rest of the castle, he found what he was looking for. The room was all-but destroyed – in his last moments the king had been a man possessed, and he could see the path he'd taken in his frenzy clearly. Beside the bed he'd sipped his breakfast wine – something he indulged himself every morning - and moved across the room and about two thirds of the way, the illness set in. He grabbed at his chair for balance, overcompensated, toppled over along with the chair, who clattered and chipped on the back. Sheik checked. Next, the now-lost king cracked his head against the table and jarred the contents so they spilled over onto the floor, and in a calm moment drug himself to the bed and tried snatching at the sheets to stand. He became sick on those selfsame sheets, before he fell to spasms again. Sheik found a bit of blood and hair on the bed frame. The king had gone down hard over the corner, probably convulsing. Afterwards, he wouldn't have gotten back up.

Shortly after, he imagined, Zelda found him. Since he had been drinking, she was bringing him something without alcohol… one of the servants mentioned a shattered glass and spilt tea in the hallways. She'd told him the blood hadn't browned yet. He looked upward and his gaze caught on the empty chalice on the bedside table. Stone, somewhat heavy, finely carved - and with a slight film on the inside, one he'd never seen on the stoneware before. He took the chalice.

…

The sun shone bright and shimmering over the field. Link smiled at it, leaning over the window. "Don't fall out." Zelda warned him with a reserved smile, tearstains smudging her cheeks. He laughed, considered the image of Sheik hovering under the window with a paranoid look on his face, laughed harder, and then returned his gaze to the field past the castle walls. Some people were walking across it towards the woods, blue and gray smudges the size of ants. Perhaps they wanted to take a walk.

He'd like to take Zelda out there, too, albeit he doubted she'd let him. Still, the soft amber light of the world was soothing and warmed his skin where it touched. A welcome reprieve this high up, where the wind was sharp and cold and so often begged him to jump into its clutches. He watched the leaves fall from the highest trees in the courtyard below them.

"… I'm done these." Zelda murmured, breaking into his observation of the world. "Will you accompany me downstairs?" He stuck to her side in an instant, and the walk down the stairs had them passing many nobles and servants. Several stopped to offer condolences, some with solemness and some with tears, but he watched both wearily. The feeling of eyes on his back lingered and he knew Impa was following them from the rafters, since Sheik would have descended from his perch to rip someone's head from their high-born shoulders long before this moment. Not to say all of their words were insincere, just…

He played one hand over his baldric, and felt the mastersword bump against his back. For whatever reason, this made several people veer away from them. Link smiled, though not kindly. Zelda glanced back and raised an eyebrow at the dry expression on him.

_The one always with the sheikah… _

_Earth-skinned demons… red eyes… fangs of the beast… I'm certain it was his unruly behavior that brought on the king's untimely death. _

One of his ears twitched. Link's smile disappeared, and he tilted his head to listen to the murmuring of the maids they were passing. The women hushed themselves just beside him, but continued after what he presumed were a few cautionary glances to his back.

_Those monsters would have us all, I think. They have already infected the castle. _

He didn't like that at all.

…

Certain flowers only grew in certain regions.

Exotic ones were popular with the court ladies as of late – in particular, he recalled a lacey white flower, difficult to obtain because it only grew in the deep swamps on the west border of Weiss.

The dungeons were as unwelcoming as ever – he'd stayed the night in here, once, and it hadn't been under Ganon's reign. He had hated the place since, but he probably would've hated it anyway – it reminded too much of desolation and dark things that didn't deserve light. The stone stretched long and charcoal gray in front of him, and he stopped in front of one cell.

The man inside didn't bother looking up, thumbs twiddling with too much idle amusement, and all Sheik could see of his features was a large and twisted smile. Reminding of carnage and burning and pain, it was easily the darkest thing the dungeon's had to offer.

In the war, he had happily taken advantage – raping women and children, killing anyone who crossed him or just caught his eye, wantonly searching out chaos for pleasure. What he enjoyed the most was… probably the screams… the horror and suffering in someone's eyes as he defiled them. Sheik knew very much about him – he used to work with him.

This man was a monster.

Sheik leaned on the stone beside the cell bars. "Would you like to play a game?"

* * *

"Tomorrow?"

"Yes – we have moved it up; it must be as soon as possible."

Link cocked his head, hovering by the throne while Zelda spoke. He supposed he should feel like a lapdog, but he was only here for Zelda, and all the seedy advisors in the world wouldn't convince him to leave. And anyway, it only took one of _him_ to convince those same advisors to get lost if his mood was foul enough.

Right now his expression surveying the court was too sharp, lingering on the latest visitor. Zelda would be discussing marriage tomorrow. He wondered if Sheik knew yet – doubtful, since they'd only just heard of it, but the man had ways. (Ways, he suspected, that were bordering on illegal and involved a good deal of eavesdropping, but Sheik was Sheik.) White edged into his vision and he cocked his head to regard, with no little curiosity, the Duke of Weiss. The man looked deeply troubled, and swept into the room with the obnoxiously graceful hurry highborns were taught from the cradle.

Link didn't really realize all of that, though, just that Sheik greatly disliked the man for whatever reason. (Likely starting with 'engagement', involving 'king', and somehow ending with 'queen Zelda') Typically, Sheik's intuition did not fail them, honed from years of being exploited, enslaved and looked down on. He had a wonderful sense of when someone was about to screw them over. Link tried listening to him, no matter how docile a person seemed.

"Milady, is it your will that the funeral should be restricted to the noble classes?" He demanded in urgent tones, all-but disregarding everything outside Zelda's gaze. The young woman stood, pressing her hand against the arms of the throne.

"Of course not." Link watched her lips curl into a troubled frown from the corner of his gaze. "Though we will have a viewing the morn of, there will be a procession all the way to Kakariko, where my father will be buried to rest with our family in the royal tomb." Link took a moment to shudder. His first encounter with redead. "From the castle gates onward, all the citizens are entitled attendance. The funeral itself will be in the field." She sat back down after she'd finished, expression dark and irritated.

The duke stalled a moment, then deflated the smallest amount. "I see… then I have listened to poor sources. I apologize for your trouble, milady." He bowed, so low his hair slipped from the hood of his ganache. "May I approach?" He asked quietly.

"Yes." Zelda replied, just as quiet, and he moved to kneel beside her hand.

"I hope you are doing better, Lady Zelda."

"Only a few days have passed. The wounds are fresh." She murmured back, and Link felt his heart clench and ache at her voice. And with that man so close beside her while tears threatened to spill… Sheik would have a fit.

Link stepped forward. "Zelda. I… need to speak to you privately, if that is acceptable." She looked up, eyes glassy but curiosity shining in them.

"Of course." She turned to the duke with an apologetic look and excused herself. He waved it off, smiling solemnly at them, and remarked, "Everything fades in the stream of time." in their passing.

Somehow, Link didn't find that reassuring. This ache would fade, but so would every joy. Another reminder of life's lonely, ephemeral lot.

They stopped in a near-empty hall.

"What is it?" Zelda asked him very calmly, her face still touched red from not-quite-shed tears.

"When did you last eat?" He asked, putting his hands on her shoulders.

"This morning." She frowned at him, cocking her head and narrowing her eyes, like another blond he knew. "Was that all, Link?" She appreciated the discretion, but…

"Not quite." He mumbled back. "… I don't think Sheik wants you near that man." Zelda's look turned just the slightest bit wry.

"Then he may take it up with me." She said calmly, arching one brow at him.

"And if he finds out I stood there and let that man near enough to touch you, he would murder me." Was the utterance Link returned to her, quite serious, as he searched her eyes.

"Sheik wouldn't murder you – he loves you." Zelda announced while she waved it off. "In any case, why do you keep calling Sir Hell 'that man'? Its… dehumanizing. It's not like you."

… Actually, it kind-of _was_, since thinking in those terms made fighting easier, but he wouldn't correct her.

"If Sheik doesn't trust him… I'm sure there's something we're not seeing, and I don't want to be caught unaware." He added faintly in his mind _we've already had enough of that. _

* * *

Dark eyes gleamed, though from interest or insanity one couldn't be sure. "What are the stakes?"

Shrugging, careless and nonchalant, Sheik let his eyes go darker. "Your life." It was said very unremarkably, like mentioning the coming winter. "Heads or tails, you see. If you get heads, you die. If you get tails… you'll be set free."

The grin went back a little further to show jagged teeth. Sheik couldn't remember if he'd practiced cannibalism once the cows had died, but he supposed it didn't matter. The man was a plague on the world, what was the weight of one more sin?

Gleaming again, though definitively in interest this time, the man's eyes caught his. "What will we play with?" He asked, casting too-eager glances toward the lock.

Sheik cocked his head so his fringe covered more flesh. "This goblet… if I'm wrong, the wine in here is the finest in the castle."

The man grinned. "And if I survive, you'll let me out?"

"Of course. It doesn't really matter, though. I imagine you're very bored living in here."

The man held out his hand – he expected to win. The chances of Sheik being right didn't even come into play to him.

A complete and true monster, Sheik reflected again. He could well be setting this loose on the kingdom, if the poison were too weak, or simply not in the goblet at all. Then again…

He was very sure.

* * *

Zelda returned to the throne room shortly afterwards, but beyond the funeral preparation they had little to do. About three hours after the fact Link convinced her to leave, so that they could at least walk in the meadow between the castle and the gates.

* * *

The first few moments after he drank it were tentative, his eyes fixed on the chalice and Sheik's eyes on him. When it became clear he wouldn't immediately drop to the floor, frothing at the mouth and howling, he looked up with a grin of triumph slowly working back across his features. "Looks as though I've won." He murmured.

Sheik cocked his head.

The cell door clicked open.

Wrapping a bit of rope over his wrists, 'just for appearances', they began out of the dungeon, Sheik carefully directing them to a servant's door that lead to the field behind the castle. "I'll take you a mile into the forest, and then you're on your own." Sheik told him quietly, leading him away like an executioner taking a criminal on his last mile. The man chuckled, eyes roving over the land around them. His gray clothes and paled skin (from too little sun, Sheik supposed) made him look like a mudge of charcoal against the world.

"Once we get past the trees, can I get these ropes off?"

"Why? Are they too tight?" Sheik asked calmly, not looking anywhere but ahead.

The man frowned. "Nah, principle of the matter."

"Well, you can't." Sheik decided, "We need them on in case anyone sees us in the trees. At the point where we will separate, it will cease to matter." Sheik murmured, eyeing the bound hand in front of him.

"… whatever." Even the negative wouldn't ruin the monster's giddiness at freedom. The stretch between them and freedom was a good mile, though; one trudged over in silence and barely restrained glee until about halfway. Sheik didn't think he should've celebrated so early anyhow. The man groaned and swayed, stopping to stoop over. "Damn, I really became lax inside." He gasped, before putting a hand to his forehead and vomiting. Sheik didn't look away, but neither did he move to help, and soon the freed prisoner was back on his feet and they were moving again.

He stayed silent and more subdued than before, but the way he swayed and hissed suggested he was still nauseous. Watching all of it, Sheik didn't speak. The sun had fallen a little further in the sky when the first shadows from the trees touched on them, and soon they couldn't see the sun at all over the topmost branches. On the presumed prisoner, a little bit of the dark, happy smile was returning. It promised pain and corpses. Sheik knew both would be fulfilled today.

Another wave of nausea hit the criminal, and he clutched his stomach and groaned but didn't vomit. "Must've gotten heatstroke…" He muttered, pushing forward. Following quietly, Sheik glanced around and caught sight of a marker – a strip of dark green tied to what used to be a trees base, but was now several feet above their heads. Well over halfway in.

"You know, I'm surprised, Red devil. I figured you were executing me on orders of the king." The man commented in light tones and heavy breathes.

"Have you ever known me to play games for an execution?" He replied seriously, arching a brow in disdain. "I'm not _you_."

"No need to be rude." He muttered back, smirking.

"In any case, the king died just a few days ago." The whole forest seemed to quiet for scant seconds. The hylian and sheikah in their midst had more to do with it than any sense of mourning, he knew.

"Eh?" The one escorted glanced back. "That's why there weren't any guards on the cells?"

"I suppose." Again, the forest rustled around them.

The man frowned and began to rub his stomach lightly. "Anything to eat in here?" He wondered in a quieter voice.

"It's forest." Sheik's answer got him a slightly darker, manic smile.

"Riiight…" He muttered, cocking his head. "We almost there?"

"We are four meters away."

"_Wonderful_." He cooed, and picked up the pace. A few heartbeats after, he began to sweat – very badly, stroking his throat with a nervous expression.

Two meters from the agreed endpoint, his body began to seize up. At one meter, he dropped, writhing and gasping, onto the leaf-strewn floor. The cicadas chirped quietly around them. High above, a bird whistled.

"Looks as though I've won." Sheik commented neutrally, kicking a little dirt over the corpse. He turned back the way he'd come.

The man hadn't finished convulsing, but he was definitely dead.

…

"They used quite a large amount in the concentration. Just what was left in the cup was enough to kill another Hylian." Impa's eyes were trained on him as he reported, standing in the shadow beside the window.

"I see…" She murmured softly, narrowing her eyes at him. "I will continue for today - but first we need to talk about another matter."

"… another?" Expression turned quizzical under the cowl, he blinked at her. "What is it?"

She crossed her arms and gave him a dry look. "I saw Link earlier." She told him sternly. Her eyes were sharp and the bright light cast the other half of her face in shadow. For whatever reason, Sheik began to dread the coming conversation. "What exactly happened on Death Mountain, Sheik?"

… ah.

"I plead the fifth."

"That isn't available." She deadpanned and narrowed her eyes. He bit back on the urge to toe the ground with shame, because that would be an _admission_.

"Ah… we were closed in after we dealt with the problem. We couldn't get out, as you know I was injured… and I didn't have the energy to teleport us both… so we agreed…" He silenced himself, watching Impa carefully. The returned stare was impassive and revealed the predictable nothing Impa favored.

"… I see. I will consider the circumstances, but rest assured this will arise again – next time in the presence of Link." A curse wanted to spill out, so he bit his tongue.

"Yes ma'am." He sighed, rolling out his shoulders. He supposed he'd go find Zelda now.

…

Watching Link was always… interesting, Zelda reflected. Right then, for example, he had acquired a stick and was trying to… edge closer to some butterflies…

Ahem. Not bothering to wipe the half-confused smile off her face, she cocked her head. One butterfly was just about to land on said stick when Sheik decided to put the fear of god in them both, and jumped down from the ledge by the castle wall to land right between them. Link broke the stick over his head.

Sheik turned and gave him a measured look.

"… sorry."

"I suppose we're even." He muttered back dryly. Zelda slowly removed her hand from where it was clutching her still-franticly beating heart.

"Please refrain from doing that, Sheik. You're going to make my hair go gray…" The man turned to frown at her, apparently unbothered by the whole broken stick ordeal. The branch was more long than thick anyway.

"What? I was very loud approaching…"

"I'm loud, Sheik. You aren't loud. You're like… a cat." Link groaned, shaking his head. An agreement rose from Zelda. Sheik twitched.

"In any case, what did you do today, Sheik?" Zelda's question broke off whatever argument was forthcoming. Link turned an interested gaze to the shadow. Some leaves blew by, the breeze ruffling their hair and clothes.

"I had some things I had to take care of." Sheik answered quietly. His tone was measured and neutral, but he made up for it by tugging his cowl down to smile at them. Red eyes flickered from one to the other. "I suppose Link kept you safe in my steed?"

Link bit back another groan. Zelda's gaze turned sharp. "Oh, Sheik. Of course." Somehow she made that sound irritable, and colder than the autumn's wind. Supposing she was still upset about the issue with the duke – lady could hold a grudge like no one knew – Link carefully edged behind Sheik, who turned to give him a curious look before addressing Zelda again.

"I'm happy to hear that. I sincerely apologize for my absence." He bowed, and Zelda's eyes softened.

"… if you come here, and give me a kiss, I'll forgive you."

Sheik straightened back up, and Link looked on to see if he'd do it, when the sound of clanking metal reached them. A soldier ran straight to Zelda, huffing and puffing. "Milady! A body was found in the woods beyond the castle." Link didn't really see why that warranted such a rush - when he'd first ventured into the outside world, he knew he would have been horrified at this news, but he'd moved between wilderness and cities for over seven years now (seven years that were only in his head, and a final year he knew was real). The world was dangerous. But he kept those thoughts to himself while Zelda frowned. It was sad, but it happened – rather commonly, he thought. It shouldn't even be worth reporting.

To his faint surprise, Zelda said as much – though of course in gentler terms - but the guard pressed on, "He is- was a prisoner that until now was thought to still be in his cell!" Link had been watching Zelda, but something shifting caught his attention.

He turned a little; just enough to see at the corner of his vision – Sheik's cowl was still down. He was frowning, almost thoughtful looking, and his arms were crossed and his eyes not-quite narrowed. Not widened in surprise, or gasping to reveal those vicious teeth, but simply pensive. There was no surprise in his countenance. When Zelda began to hurry back towards the castle after the guard, Link followed Sheik. They didn't follow Zelda.

In the side path, beside the channel and the servant's entrance where milk was delivered, Sheik turned to face him. "What did you do?" Link breathed quietly, and Sheik cocked his head. The problem with Sheik contriving to look innocent… well, he couldn't even settle on just one problem. The man didn't have it in him, pure and simple.

"What do you mean?" Sheik sounded genuinely curious, and the frown tugging his lips was thoughtful in a different way from before – his eyes were focused on the present. Progress.

"You didn't seem surprised at all… that a prisoner got loose and was found dead just beyond the castle…"

"Two miles from the castle." Sheik corrected easily. 'Two', he'd said. Blue eyes narrowed.

"The guard never mentioned that."Link pointed out gently. The frown got a little bit worse. The wind brushed against them again while the sun set behind the trees. Sheik groaned, very quietly.

"I've gotten too close." He grumbled, before skulking over to Link and snatching up one wrist.

"Hey-" Sheik yanked harder, dragging them in through the servant door and the depths of the castle, until they were hidden in a half-lit corridor.

"Someone killed the king." Sheik murmured quietly to him, "I would appreciate it if you stuck around to help guard Zelda, but… I also don't want you involved." He shook his head. Link would be lying if he said he always understood, but he assumed Sheik didn't want his friends in danger, and that he could comprehend.

"Well, it's not as though there was ever another option." He pointed out gently, which made Sheik cant his head. His lips quirked in a smile. "But you still haven't answered my question." Smile gone.

"Ah… Do I really have to tell you?" Sheik asked him almost-mournfully, verging on a pout and brushing a strand of hair from Link's face. Link almost batted him away.

"I told you about Iblis, didn't I?"

"… It's different." It was unusual for him to mumble, Link thought. Really, it couldn't be anything that bad…

"Who was he?" He decided to start out gentle, easing himself and the Sheikah into it because otherwise, he was sure Sheik would flee. Or do something horrible to shut him up, like kiss him or something absurd… actually, considering it was _Sheik_…

It was very possible. The man was sneaky and quite insane when the mood suited. And Link wasn't really sure he'd stay on track if Sheik did anything like that.

"A man by the name of Keros. He ran amok under Ganondorf and was subsequently imprisoned when the false king was overthrown." Sheik replied methodically. Red eyes stood out in the dark, Link noticed. Even if he shouldn't be able to see the red. Perhaps it was an illusion.

_The red is an illusion_. Right.

"Did you know him?" Link continued carefully, cocking his head a little. Sheik quirked a brow at him.

"Regrettably." He sighed. "The man was a monster."

"Alright." Link murmured. Sheik had seen some horrifying things – monster was a pretty substantial term for him to use. He didn't think he really wanted to know what the man had done. "And… do you know how he got out?" Sheik watched him curiously for several seconds, before rushing him and pinning him to the wall, nose-to-nose.

"What the-!" Recovering enough to glare, he squirmed. "What the hell was that, Sheik?"

"Shh." Someone turned the corner. A guard passed them by, dark eyes trained ahead of him. He didn't look back before slipping into the dungeon. They must've been worried more would escape, Link realized. When he looked back to the too-close face of his friend, Sheik was frowning. "Shame." He murmured faintly, "I was hoping you'd turn bright red." Link felt his eye twitch, but couldn't bring himself to retort – it felt as though someone's hand were wrapped around his throat. Sheik leaned forward, past his line of vision so his face was beside Link's ear.

"And yes, I do. But that's a secret." He breathed teasingly before leaning back.

Link felt the blush on his face very clearly, but… "You did it, didn't you." He deadpanned despite it, staring at Sheik unamused.

The hall was filled with the faint sound of living, but no words.

Moments passed. Sheik carefully moved back into his own space. "Why?" Link continued questioning him, cocking his head to one side. Eyes narrowing – of course Link wouldn't give up on this – Sheik sighed. "I was hoping not to, but let's move to a better place." The unexpected passing of the guard had spooked him, and Link considered how often things happened that Sheik didn't expect. Bongo bongo, the depth of Link's pure hard-headedness, that time Zelda had jumped the garden wall…

… It happened more than one might think.

Returning to the topic of safe places to talk about conspiracies with spooked sheikah found the lyrist skulking off, and Link moving briskly behind him – he didn't even jump when Sheik made a sharp turn _into_ a wall and kept going.

About a hundred feet down the hidden path – Link gawked at the size – Sheik turned to face him. "I already told you the king's death wasn't chance." Link nodded, eyes trained on Sheik's. "Well, there was a certain something in his room with him… I suspected it was vital to his demise. To be sure, I had to test it… That man is not someone who should have ever been put into prison."

Almost-imperceptibly, Link nodded in acceptance.

"Did he know?"

"… I told him he would die if I was right. He accepted my terms." Link caught that.

_Then what did you offer… if you were wrong?_ Red eyes crinkled slightly when he asked aloud. "My body." Sheik deadpanned.

… Link really wanted to punch him. "That… that's very funny, Sheik. I'm glad to see you've developed some humor." He stammered, trying to rein in the violent urge.

"I blame you." The man continued in the same tone as before, the one that would drive Link to smash his head into the wall if he didn't quit it. The urge to punch him grew… exponentially… stronger.

"Be serious, Sheik." He sighed. The other blond quirked an eyebrow at him in return, trying to clearly telegraph just how _absurd_ that statement was, coming from Link to him. Link staunchly ignored the implication – later he'd recall it and just curl up and die or something, from laughing too much.

"… alright. I told him if I was wrong, I would let him go."

… _Oh_. For a moment, he could honestly swear he thought the ceiling had crashed around them. A second after though, he realized he was wrong and that that had really just been said. Sheik was careful to act nonchalant, looking the other way, but his arms were crossed. His tone betrayed a lot of displeasure. His whole body was tense, and after a few moments spent looking him over and determining this, Link had the uncomfortable realization that Sheik wasn't kidding.

"… didn't know you liked to gamble." He settled on finally, watching the flicker of red eyes in the dark.

"I was very sure of my odds." Sheik returned, voice quiet in the almost empty space. The atmosphere between them was horribly icy all of the sudden, Kakariko's-graveyard-at-night cold.

Link frowned, cocking his head. "… okay." He murmured, though he didn't touch the other. "Do you… want to go find Zelda?"

"No." He said bluntly. "This is why I didn't want to tell you this – you're walking on eggshells and now I'm in a terrible mood." Link agreed- about the mood; it wasn't very common for Sheik to snap at him. He wouldn't call what he was doing 'walking on eggshells', though.

"… well, if you say he knew what would happen and did it anyway, then it's not your fault." Was what he settled on. Link knew it wasn't quite true, and so did Sheik he was sure, but hopefully he'd recognize the gesture for what it was.

Sheik looked back at him, carefully assessing. "… besides." He grumbled finally, finding whatever it was he was looking for, "I never said I wouldn't have alerted the guards."

_Of course not._ He wasn't sure why that had made his heart skip a beat. "So… what do you want to do, then?" He tried cheerfully, to which Sheik looked him dead in the eye.

"I want a bath." He groaned. "I was around a corpse _all day._"

* * *

Getting what one wanted tended to be a pleasant affair. The rarer it was, the more pleasant it seemed.

He almost never got his way, so when he did the feeling was _bliss._ Sheik was very much prepared for something to ruin it.

Link didn't seem inclined to agree, ardently chasing a fish that had most probably gotten in through the main line.

But nonetheless, Sheik was waiting. A thief in the castle running in here to hide. Another murder. Ganondorf rising from the dead as a country singer. He knew something would happen, because something always happened. Especially when he didn't have pants.

Gods, how he hated it. Scrubbing his hair furiously - _The smell the smell the smell-! - _he tried his best to put the little pessimistic voice in the back of his thoughts out a moment, just long enough for him to enjoy the feeling of too much filth being sloughed off like old skin. A cheer came from across the bathhouse. Link had caught the fish. "In Kakariko, the mountain heats these." Sheik mused aloud, catching the attention of the triumphant hunter. (was it still hunting when his quarry was a fish? Was it still fishing if he caught by hand?) Link cocked his head, ears twitching upward. "We think it's the magma heating up the water, but who knows. Maybe its fire spirits – that's what the people here think." For whatever reason, that had Link smiling. "Not going to talk?" Sheik asked a few minutes of silence later, tone wry. Leaning back with arms stretched out on the wood floor behind him, Sheik tried very hard to relax. And to _stop_ picturing Ganondorf as a country singer. Link shrugged, gesturing abstractly. '_Don't feel like it._' or something along those lines.

To each their own, Sheik thought. He closed his eyes, enjoying the peculiar silence (though it never used to be peculiar around Link, time had a funny way of changing things). Outside them the pools of clean water were empty, and he was happy for the respite from wary stares and hushed voices. Something curious – and a little entertaining – he noticed about using the bathes was that his clothes were seen neatly folded outside and suddenly everyone had something more pressing to attend to. With the resurgence of Vampir myths, and newly-baptized believers, he figured it would only get worse. As long as they didn't interfere with his job, his Impa, Zelda, or Link (and they were all certainly, definitely, never-to-be-doubted at any moment his, no matter how much they might protest), or his clothes, he couldn't really claim to care.

As Sheik carefully worked some soap through his hair, the sound of clattering echoed from outside the door. Someone started screaming about a skulltula infestation in the west wing, and deku shrubs invading the garden. Also it was apparently storming outside. Something would probably blow up in the kitchens soon. Chaos was dancing outside the bathhouse door and calling them to join.

Once Sheik began to rinse his hair, there was uproar about the north hall being flash-flooded and children riding mattresses through the mire of rainwater. Smiling peacefully, he left the bath.

Chaos had been very insistent after all.

…

He honestly hadn't thought it possible, but he found a mage that scared him more than Zelda had as a girl. One of the court's magic-makers had been studying the power of the song of storms.

Neither Link nor Sheik liked thinking about that song for long, thanks to the entire paradox of who taught it to whom. Headaches ensued whenever they dredged up the patience.

Well… back on topic, the mage had decided to see what would happen if it was amplified using several instruments and some spells that Link didn't know but made Sheik sincerely wish for a neck to wrap his fingers around. The barrier spells on the room they worked in had failed, only the ones of the hall (an 'unnecessary precaution') kept the water from coating the entire castle, albeit spread out to much lesser depths.

While the thought of trudging through water like he was in the bottom of the well all day, every day, was entertaining, Sheik was glad the unnecessary precaution had been deemed by someone to be necessary anyway. Currently, Link was sitting beside him on a rafter, a too-contemplative look on his face as he eyed a table floating by. "Don't." Sheik muttered, because if he wasn't allowed to jump around the water-logged castle furnishings then Link wouldn't either.

… That didn't seem petty at all.

A teapot floated out one open door towards them next – leaning over, Link spotted a mouse sleeping comfortably inside. He wondered what was wrong with it. "Hey, Sheik, are there any white rabbits around here, too?"

"What?"

…

A hasty drain job, several castings of Din's fire, and an explanation that 'no, Link, I do not believe we keep any lagomorphs in the castle regardless of coloration', (and Sheik wondering why Link looked so amused) the hallway incident was resolved. They moved on to reporting the occurrence to the head of staff, who cursed the mages in three different tongues, and assuredly the maids in charge of clean up would do worse. Next on the list was obtaining food and then making sure both Sheik and Zelda ate it, which Link was quite ready to do. Sheik agreed with him on the Zelda issue, (he was not enlightened on the Sheik issue) and they made their way to the kitchens.

"Why were you asking about white rabbits, exactly?" Sheik muttered, rifling through a cabinet. He hated talking to the servants, so he was cooking something himself.

"Dormouse." Link grunted, ducking around a strung-up moblin corpse. "People eat these?" he mumbled in a perturbed voice – seemed a little too human to him. Not that that had stopped moblins from trying to eat _him_ on several occasions.

"Please grab a tektite." Sheik reminded him, "A couple came in during the flood – they follow the water." Link smirked a little. Yes, he was aware of those - he'd gotten to jump around on furniture after all, thanks to them. At least Sheik hadn't seemed too upset by the excuse to act like ten year olds and play in the flooded corridor on half-submerged tables and beds.

He grabbed a nicer looking beast from the wall – well, as nice as any tektite could look – and avoided the moblin again on his way out. Those were dying out since Ganon's fall, and the royals were quite intent on hunting down the rest. Link was fine with that – he'd had quite a few unpleasant experiences with those. Including one where he'd been climbing a ladder when one charged and skewered him… ah, red fairies. They were the only reason he didn't die before even reaching the forest temple. He winced in recollection – gut wounds were fatal without a very skilled healer or those before-mentioned fairies on hand. Sheik would probably beat the crap out of him if he knew about all the times Link had managed to forget about a moblin before turning a corner. Sheik probably already had a very long list of things he was going to beat the crap out of him for, and just hadn't gotten around to fulfilling them. Yet. The bastard never actually _forgot_.

"Thank you." Sheik murmured, submerging the corpse in a sizable cauldron.

"You look like a witch." Link noted in amusement. Sheik paused – in that moment, offense was probably blooming. Link knew he had to get that habit of blurting things out around Sheik under control, and he had the horrible feeling that he was about to be maimed when the other glanced back over one shoulder at him.

Sheik turned slowly away from the cauldron, dragging one hand up Link's arm. While the hero stood frozen, something like 'if I don't move he can't see me' echoing through his mind, Sheik leaned in until their noses brushed. His eyes met Link's, and he smirked. "Really now. Can you still see it?" His breathe brushed over Link's lips, and the fingers against his shoulder curled up like claws and scratched gently. _Yes, I can. In fact, it just got worse,_ Link twitched, feeling a flush form on his cheeks.

Sheik, content that he had once again screwed with the hero's head, went back to cooking.

Poor, dazed Link stumbled over to sit down at a table for the chefs. He wondered where they'd gone. A pale servant wandered inside their sphere of influence after some time, blue-tinged and sickly. Sheik raised an eyebrow as he looked her over. "You're far afield from home." He noted, which Link thought was a mild way to put it indeed. The poor thing looked as though she'd never seen daylight. The girl squeaked when she noticed them, and looking up to Sheik she let out a string of gibberish which made him narrow his eyes. "Behind those crates to the right. The sun will disappear soon." He told her, and the girl came to sit across from Link without another sound. He nodded to her, and her eyes darted over his face nervously before she nodded back.

Sheik's earlier sense of good humor had evaporated, the whole change settling over the kitchen like a sheet of snow. As he stirred the pot the muscles in his body seemed tense enough to snap.

When he put out the fire an hour and a half later, the girl stood from the table and slunk out the servant's exit to the side yard of the castle.

Link nudged Sheik worriedly when the man passed him by – Sheik sent him a dark look back, sighing as he retrieved a platter. "We're running out of time." He really wasn't expounding upon that the way it deserved. Link cocked his head. "That girl will return to her mistress shortly. And once she does, my time can be measured in minutes and seconds - that woman never waits long." He sighed, "She's already itching to rip apart whoever harmed the king."

"I thought you and Impa were the only ones who knew…" Link trailed off at the look on Sheik's face.

"The Twili's leader knows." He muttered. "She always knows." And he didn't sound particularly happy about that.

Link patted his shoulder, canting his head to the other side now. There was a worried light in Sheik's eyes, and it didn't flicker as they left the kitchens. Watching for it when he could, between hallways and fading hylians, Link guessed that it wouldn't die out until the problem was dealt with. He tried not to remember the magic seeping from the stone corpse, familiar and dark…

The people in the hallways were all slumped and murmuring, sad. The announcement the king was dead… it seemed to be a lifetime ago. He wondered if Sheik felt the same.

Neither of them had been close to the king but… hatred still wasn't apathy… Another glance was sent towards Sheik.

…

Zelda was on a bench in the keep's tower when they found her, gazing out the window at the looming moon. It had almost disappeared. _Has it really been so close to a month?_ Link wondered, settling his hands on the sill before leaning out. He heard Sheik set down the tray with his usual speed, but he wasn't expecting the hand that fisted itself in the back of his tunic. He glanced back, eyebrows up, to find Sheik glaring at him and Zelda giving them both a slightly dazed smile. "You two…" She shook her head, chuckling softly. It was sadder than he liked, though that was unavoidable. He knew it would be for some time. "Link, I don't think Sheik is comfortable with how far you're leaning into the night."

_Oh, but the night is just so sexy. I think I was just about ready to give myself up to it._ Link rolled his eyes.

Still, the careful words of the queen were accentuated by a little tug, given to display Sheik's agreement on the matter. Flopping back with a dramatic sigh, he was careful and timed it just right so Sheik couldn't avoid him. He slumped cheerfully into the other's chest, while the sheikah stood more-or-less frozen. The silly man was not yet accustomed to Link fighting back in these matters.

Zelda chuckled again, averting her eyes. Rather mournfully (in Link's mind) it broke Sheik from his stunned-silent state. Impa had disappeared once they'd made clear their intention to linger with the queen, and excepting them the room was empty. About a second after Sheik's break from shock, Link realized he needed to work on picking his battles; taking full advantage of their position with Link leaning into him, Sheik wrapped his arms around Link's waist. He settled his head on one of the hero's shoulder's to chat with the queen.

Link wasn't as amused as he had been with their situation. "That was the freshest meat in the cellar, milady." They both had to bite back grins, though, Link glancing off towards the window and Sheik still managing to look at Zelda head-on. "In fact, it was killed right inside the castle."

Zelda started, eyebrows shooting towards her hairline. "_What?_"

"North wing flood." Sheik said sagely, very comfortable where he was wrapped around the Hero of Time. Zelda watched Link's face turn progressively redder with each breath from the Sheikah – they seemed to be hitting his ear.

"… Oh. Tektites came inside…?" Both of them nodded, "But I do recall the flood. The Duke of Weiss was staying down there, along with his servants and guard. I presume you two dealt with the monsters?" She asked evenly, beginning to divide the food into three portions, two much bigger than the last. Link frowned.

"Eat more than that." Sheik echoed his sentiments.

"Don't be silly, this share is for you." Zelda corrected with a mild grin.

"Oh, do forgive me." Sheik rolled his eyes. "And of course we took care of the beasts; do you really think the Hero of Time would leave beasts to roam the castle uninhibited?"

"He wouldn't, but you might." Zelda said it so softly they weren't sure they heard it, but Sheik smirked.

_Probably wouldn't have bothered_, Sheik grinned, _if there hadn't been the obligation of using the furniture as platforms. What glorious fun. _Zelda again began to eye Link's face while Sheik ran those thoughts over in his head, a mild grin smoothing over his face under the cowl.

"Sheik?"

"Mm?"

"Have I told you lately that you're a shameless beast?"

Sheik paused, cocking his head. "… no, not you, but someone did. I can't remember…" He shook his head. "Why do you ask?" He stayed where he was.

"Remove yourself from Link's person before his face explodes." Zelda told him seriously because indeed, the hero was quickly attaining the same red shade as a dodongo ready for detonation. Sheik glanced at the too-hot face, then back at the lady.

"Oh, boo." He muttered, grinning, but detached himself from the hero. He sat on the bench beside Zelda, carefully setting his plate on the inner edge of the wide sill. When Sheik was in a good mood, very little could deter it (not unlike any other mood he had, Link supposed.)

Case in point; "Why don't you sit on my lap?" Sheik asked with a cheerful grin. It was hard to tell if he was joking.

Link responded in kind. "Sheik." He muttered, narrowing his eyes like he was upset, "Zelda is _right there._"

Then Zelda started laughing at them. Link sat on the bench beside Sheik in the little remaining space, was handed a plate, and the three sat together and watched the clouds drift by whilst they ate.

Even in the dark cloak of an almost-new moon, Link could see the Sheikah tear painted over white.

…

Mourning bells echoed like the haunted cries of midnight sky and frozen earth in winter. Sheik and Link bowed their heads, ears still tuned carefully to the chime of the crowd. Zelda's voice broke in the eulogy only once, and when it was over she tucked her head against her brother's and sobbed quietly. Link kept beside them and dared anyone to say something, fingers on his baldric.

People came forward one by one, praying, kneeling, crying or placing gifts for life-after in the casket. Sheik would be among them, Link knew; he had carried a single black feather with them from the castle. He wondered if it meant a blessing or a curse.

The stone around his neck that was often so heavy seemed to lighten in the presence of the mourners and corpse, and for a moment he could feel the brush of slick feathers against his side. A black cloud that only he and perhaps Sheik could see, almost human, slithered to the body. A limb extended from the haze and drew toward itself a faded light from the amulet about the king's neck. After a moment watching Link realized, with a kind of detached horror, that it was a soul the hand drew out.

Navi had stayed gone the past few days – he missed her, yes, but he had to take care of Sheik and Zelda too. He wondered how she would feel upon seeing a hylian's life disappear. Maybe… she had seen it many times before. His memory was hazy, but the first sight of hylian death he'd ever caught kept flashing clear in his mind's eye. A bad alley, the smell of metal so strong in the air he could taste it. The uncomfortable clank of armor shifting against itself as a chest moved in struggles for breath. The solider stuttering something to him, about the Lady and something to give him…

And then he had stopped moving, half-open eyes glazing over and still staring at Link.

Half-blurred vision left him watching Impa approach the coffin. She carefully extended a bouquet of white, long-tendrilled flowers and black feathers to the wooden box, and rested them on the king's chest.

The haze cradled the soul quite gently, seeming to nod toward Impa. She didn't respond – Link wasn't sure she could see it at all.

_This one has disappeared. It is for this reason you cannot dwell. _

Then the dark mist shifted and murmured, drifting by him. The amulet grew heavy again.

Iblis was gone.

Something the god hadn't mentioned, or perhaps had thought obvious, was the changing weight. Link hadn't noticed it too quickly, caught up as he was in the wake of everything, like that first month after the war's end. But it was definitely there, caught in an ache of his neck was a memory of pain and deadweight. Without Iblis the amulet felt like lead chains.

As he watched the king be laid to rest, a memory of time passed swam up behind his eyes…

* * *

Three days after Ganondorf had died, he had gone to sleep. He dreamt of returning to the past, and emerging from the temple of time to watch Ganondorf be walked away from the castle in chains. He went back to the sleepy village by the Demon gate and the mountain with a name too dark, and found a nondescript house with a kind boy inside.

They talked for hours, and later with the Lady's blessing disappeared. That was well and good, and they were close, until one day they went stumbling through the darkness of forests lost to eternity and never known by Hylian gazes.

Sometime past their entrance, Link fell down a rabbit hole just out of his friends' reach. In his tumble Navi had been lost to him, and he wandered the wonderland around him to find her. He walked with a fairy named Tatl instead, who was looking for her brother Tael and their friend the skullkid who really wasn't quite their friend anymore. Above them a malevolent moon loomed, crashing into the earth at the end of three days, over and over, until he transcended the cycle of rebirth and struck down the darkness responsible. He wandered the land again, trying to find a way home. He knew Navi wasn't in the realm where he was.

Three years passed.

Another rabbit hole's shifting dark passage came and faded. He stumbled again into the sunlight below Death Mountain, disoriented and half-blind. A young man who'd been laying out flowers before graves had looked up in disbelief and without a moment to spare wrapped him up tight in strong arms. Blue light buzzed out of nothing and settled into his hair. And then, of course, he knew he was home. (It really was a wonderful feeling, so he pressed back in the embrace with a grateful smile)

It never really occurred to him that the boy he followed behind quietly looked like someone else he'd known, in the future (his past). That person didn't exist, of course, not there and not then, so the resemblance was just coincidence.

Link continued to wander the country. The older boy appeared and disappeared at will, sometimes walking beside him for days on end. He watched the way Link moved and swung the sword, but didn't correct or praise. He just watched. He always said when he was leaving. Otherwise he'd simply fade into dark, a presence at the back of Link's notice like the lingering rays in a sunset or the coolness of moonlight against his skin. He always came back, just like Navi.

Years passed and faded in that way. Link had only lost his temper once in the time, and a laughing young man had scolded him for it. (About a month later that same young man lost _his_ temper, but when Link tried to point out that he was always being lectured about control he was laughed at. His friend's reply was more than strange, as well – 'it's different. I am not the hero')

Link stayed so near to him, he never noticed how the man looked just like someone gone when seven years had passed in full.

He just remembered red eyes and a very blue sky. One day, these things in his thoughts, he'd fallen asleep in the field.

Then Link woke up.

Seven years in a night.

* * *

Stumbling the next day from where he'd been sleeping – guest quarters in the castle, the couch because the bed was too soft – he had looked around in bewilderment, then down at his hands. Seven years in a night. When he checked his arms, the scars from the Other him were there.

Between the dream, which he would never have again, and the work of rebuilding the kingdom, everything blurred. He didn't realize he worked his fingers raw until he felt blood dripping down from torn calluses. He didn't realize he was in pain until his knees gave out. He'd had it happen so many times in the past, and again it had been going on without his notice. It would only lift again when they reached the graveyard.

Words that meant nothing soothed over him, Impa adding something to what had already been spoken. Fingers caught and tugged softly on his tunic – he glanced down and saw tanned flesh.

A barely-seen step brought him closer to the sides of the grieving siblings, and the fingers lingered on his tunic's hem. A few more people stepped up, saying things he wouldn't remember. The chain and gem seemed to be made of stones. Zelda's tears lulled just as it became time for the procession to the gravesite. She took up a lit torch, and began walking in the wavering daylight across the field. A thousand bodies followed her.

The three in the thousand that actually mattered kept close to her sides.

Link looked up at the sky, clear and burning up into a fantastic sunset. It was beautiful, like autumn leaves and broken dreams and glass. A world in recurring supernova – he wondered if it was better or worse than dreary gray skies and the _plipplipplop _of drops of rain. Smoke trails from Kakariko traced the sky in careful lines, the cracks in a mirror not yet shattered. Whippoorwills whistled in the trees. The world was fading to grey, the sun was dying, and night was being born again. The cycle of rebirth was unending. He wasn't sure if that was better or worse either.

Zelda stepped away from Sheik, though his hand lingered on her wrist – she wasn't bothered by it, taking it into her own after a moment. Link stepped a little faster to catch a glimpse of her face – the tiny bit of makeup she'd worn had smeared, and her eyes were swollen red. Tears stained her gloves, and she blew her nose into a handkerchief. She looked terrible, but no one would ever say it. Link himself would've been more worried if she'd looked perfect. Sheik tossed a glance behind them at the ladies painted up like dolls, and narrowed his eyes.

_Yes,_ Link thought, _funerals aren't a place for preening. _Sheik seemed to agree with him, but he didn't speak. He sighed and ducked his head. Link watched the slump of his shoulders. _Hate is not apathy. _

'Was not', he supposed it would be now. Existence was fragile – for the poor, at least, it was common to disappear before even breeching adulthood. Their world was still war-ravaged and dangerous, even if that danger faded every day, just a little bit. Death wasn't new to him, and many times over (especially in the ice-and-flame grip of the desert wasteland) he had considered the notion of simply ceasing to be. There was something uniquely jarring about someone you knew fading from the world, though. He always forgot to account for it.

The pallbearers would have trouble getting up the stairs, he realized, but didn't move to help them. He was only here for Zelda, and Sheik, and the rest of the world could fade into the back of his mind for a while because he needed to be with them. Tomorrow, Zelda was to be crowned queen. The sun's last rays faded. The sun had set on Hyrule's Lion.

Sheik stopped, cocking his head and ignoring the perturbed look Zelda was giving him. Link sighed and closed his eyes, and whispers caught in his ears. Excited and hushed and everywhere, like a world of voices ripped open.

Something flashed in the dark. A woman stepped out of a tear in the world, orange-red hair – flames in darkness, Link thought - spilling over her back.

"Lady Midna." Sheik hissed– his time had just run out.

* * *

Zelda was curled up sleeping in the only bed. Night had crashed down like a heavy curtain, and after the funeral they'd gone to Impa's home to rest.

Outside, Sheik was stretched out over the flat roof of the cucco pen, lazy and graceful.

Up above on the house's roof, Midna kept close watch over him. Sharp eyes and ears took in everything, from the song of night birds to the rhythm of his breathing, but he didn't give a twitch.

"You haven't told her anything." Midna guessed easily, kicking out her legs so they hung over the side. Sheik grunted, which was as good an answer as any then. The cicadas were chirping in the distance, and occasionally a whippoorwill cried out. The stars were lovely tonight, he knew, but the moon was blighted by shadow and cloud. "She will find out, Sheik."

"That is why you're here." Sheik muttered, sighing. He heard Midna shift, sitting upright and likely offended at his words. He was good at upsetting her.

"I came to keep her company in grieving. It is what friends are for." She grumbled back at him, "And anyhow, she'll certainly need to loosen up after tomorrow." Sheik's eye flicked open to meet her's for the first time in that conversation.

"If you so much as think of giving her alcohol I will boil your entrails while they're still in your body. And then I will utilize you as a horse-and-cart speed bump."

Orange-red eyebrows rose disbelievingly – along with her hands in the universal gesture for 'please don't, mr. crazy person' – and a startled laugh escaped her.

"I would never dream of-"

"You don't need to, because you fantasize about it in waking." Sheik grumbled, narrowing his eyes.

The stars above them didn't blink or beat like hearts, but Sheik wondered if they were alive – infinite worlds in the distance or maybe ascended souls. Or just match-lights in the sky, it didn't matter. They were so far away.

He always hoped it didn't, anyway. (Stars looked better a million miles from his reaching fingers than when they were crashing towards the earth.) Every scar revealed… he shook his head and returned his attention to the twili noble, trying to gather his thoughts.

"… Midna…" He sighed, meeting her gaze squarely. "I'm asking you this as a favor – don't tell Zelda about the king."

"I don't give favors." She replied neutrally, a frown tugging her lips. "Why shouldn't she know?"

Sheik sucked in a breath – why, oh why…? Because Zelda looked outside her window, and saw goodness in the world. He had done his best to hide her from the war, and though he'd failed, if she didn't have to know about this…

He whispered these things to the twili's queen, who listened in a way attentive and contemplative, and most of all silent. "… it would rip her to pieces, if we didn't catch the perpetrator. She would never rest again." He whispered, fingers clenching into a fist. He hadn't saved her then… and he'd never be so worthless again…

"Is there a chance you wouldn't catch him, Sheik?" Midna drawled, challenge in her voice like knives tinkling against bells and glasses.

"Never." Sheik spat, baleful red eyes flashing up to her in the moonlight. She saw light glint off his fangs under the cowl from her high vantage.

"So what's the problem?" Nonchalant as if they'd been speaking of dinners and castles and slightly bleak weather, she made her mind up.

"I'm going to protect her. I won't have a breathe of this spoken, not if I can stop it, until I have the responsible party right where I want them, inside a grave."

She canted her head.

* * *

AN:

Sheik is not being a pervert with the whole bathing thing. Because it made sense (as much as death mountain with onsen makes sense, anyway) and would cause some culture clash, Kakariko doesn't have as many taboos on nudity as the city. Family members of the opposite sex, for example, could bath together, but wouldn't bathe with someone of the opposite gender outside their family. They wouldn't bathe with anyone of the same gender unless they were considered very close friends. There, bathing is used as a social activity that reinforces bonds and the ability to cooperate. (washing each other's backs. Shut up.)

Hm… it sounds like someone is being murdered OUR the bathroom. Why the hell is Noelle slamming into the wall? I'd better go check. Hope you guys enjoyed the chapter, tralalalala, ciao.


	9. The voice whispering 'please stay here'

Some notes before the story:

One thing that's really wonderful about writing fiction is that when your work is read, your readers will see things you never considered in your own stories. It's like thinking you're looking at a piece of flat glass, and then someone comes along and reveals more facets. It borders on serendipity.

Also, I made the terrible and rude mistake of underestimating you guys – I was worried about how you'd react to the different moral values in this story, but you've adjusted quite well (from what I can tell of my reviewers, anyway) so I'm very sorry for that, and thank you all.

On nudity: It was mentioned in the reviews for last chapter that Sheik wasn't very perverted in the baths. He was at least partly raised in an environment where nudity, while not smiled on in public, still isn't that big of a deal compared to the city. It didn't even occur to him that a very naked, very wet Link would be something to perv over. (Fans everywhere cried at the missed opportunity.) As for me, I am ashamed. Apparently Link must be naked in a bed before Sheik will get the memo.

Final note: I've always been fond of the idea that when a vampire gets hungry or shows their bestial nature, their eyes change. Not the color, per say, like blue to red or anything, because that implies a disguise, but a natural and subtle but definitely-there change in their own appearance.

When the world bleeds away from rational thought to instinct, like in situations with heightened emotions for humans… you can see it in their eyes. I wanted to include that.

**Review replies**

Trolly's Bara-chan:I suppose I'm doing a good job then, if you have to keep reading X3 And I'm really good at not answering important questions, but its in the name of plot. Probably. I swear.

Sunnepho: This Sheik is so serious most of the time, its hard to make him a pervert. *sigh* I'm very happy you enjoyed the bite scene.

To some other people: not that I have ANY room to talk, but I SEE YOU. With your _favorites_ and _story alerts!_ If you like the story enough to click those, please leave a review. Just a sentence or even a word, it would make me very happy. I have like, the self-esteem of turnip and need reassurance that I'm doing something beyond scribbling pretty words. So… Please?

* * *

_**Guide to Cambion, Darkness and other Anomalies of night. Companion volume to Atlas of Ghouls**_

_**Authored and illustrated by Hell's Firefly**_

_**Coauthored by the Bright Red Light, because he wouldn't stop scribbling on my pages. Bastard.**_

* * *

**Chapter 9: What you want… isn't always the best (Knowing that, will you still chase it?)**

With those words, he had taken her opinions and decisions and immortalized them in stone.

* * *

"Alright then." Midna clapped her hands, giving him a winning smile. "I think I'm just going to consider this whole thing a fault of fate! Why, now that the Lady Zelda is becoming Queen, I'll just snatch her right on up… And with her, Hyrule itself!" She let out a –hushed- cackle, rubbing her hands together with glee while Sheik rolled his eyes.

"Are you joking? I can't tell…" She'd better be; he would hang her organs all over the realm if she seduced Zelda. There wouldn't be a clean blade of grass in Hyrule once he was contented.

_Of course, I'll likely end up doing that anyway to some fool or another, if the court is disapproving of Zelda's wishes…_

Midna chuckled, leaning back to look at the moon. "I guess you'll just have to wait and see, eh? Not that I would have any real use for this place. I can only come out in darkness… Mm. How do you deal with it, brother?" The Twili wondered, tilting her head back to regard the moon. Hair that should be orange spilled over her back and shoulders, black and shining softly.

"Sheikah are different. We are made to follow light – you are made to hide from it." For whatever reason, Midna found that amusing enough to chuckle.

"Following lights, huh?" Quoth she, before letting out another laugh. This one sounded more subdued than what he was used to, as little as he _was_ used to Midna, at least, and he wondered what she was thinking.

"… who was that Hylian?"

He retracted his wish. Midna could just keep her mouth shut until the end of time if she was going to ask things like that.

Midna narrowed her eyes at the moon. Where it was in the black-velvet sky spoke volumes to her, and the most important one said she would have to leave soon.

Sheik, who had leant back on the ledge and closed his eyes to half-dream and half-plan, didn't reopen them before acknowledging her inquiry.

"There were a little over one thousand – you'll have to be more specific than that."

"The one who was walking with you and the Lady." Midna replied, unbothered by his selective knowledge. "He trudged off to the graveyard before you and I came out here to chat, you know the one."

Oh, well, he tried. Sheik grunted. "A puppy." He began wryly, "That I brought home as a boy." Just as he said so, the grass by the graveyard entrance rustled. Sheik cracked open his eyes and together he and Midna looked over to find Link emerging from the darkness.

He was brushing something off his hair with a disgusted expression.

Blessed distractions. "Catch another redead, hero?" Sheik drawled as he slithered off the roof top with an atypically despicable smirk.

"Shut up." Link grumbled back, narrowing his eyes.

Sheik sauntered into his space with the air of someone who not only was used to being there, but had likely stuck a flag in somewhere to proclaim it as his own. (Not that Midna had _any_ way to know about _that_.) He was very much glad of the distraction, and he hadn't picked on Link in a while (A while being, perhaps, twenty-four hours).

"So what happened, then?" He purred while quirking one eyebrow at Link, who grumbled something under his breath and looked away.

A soft wind rung against them, it's feeling dark and effervescent. Midna had taken leave of their company.

Challenge lit up his eyes and even as he spoke his voice grew thick with mischief. "I'm sorry, I didn't quite catch that." Sheik murmured too-sweetly, staring head-on at Link

"I said I fell down another hole." Link shot back, looking up to bump their foreheads together - rather painfully. Sheik ignored the burning ache to laugh.

"We should just call you Alice."

* * *

Link collapsed on the blanket the moment it hit the floor. Sheik quirked an eyebrow at him, tossing another blanket on top of the hero. He also nudged him in the ribs with his foot, but Link was ignoring that.

"… The world is still messed up, Sheik." He muttered, curving his body into the fetal position and closing his eyes.

"Did you really expect to change it all?" Sheik's tone wasn't dry for once, but very serious and touched with the slightest concern. Under the blanket, Link smiled.

"Would've been nice."

He tensed, just a little, at Link's innocent notion. Rustling issued from the bed in the corner of the loft – soft footsteps carried over to them, barely there at all.

Red eyes flickered through the darkness to Zelda's so-faint face. Her eyes shined where the little light touched on them, blue and the only color in the world… Sheik reached out and touched her wrist gently. "… I wish you two didn't go outside at night." She murmured, taking his hand and clasping it a moment before letting go. "I was worried… what if… if you two weren't still here? I…" She shook her head, letting out a noise that was neither a keen nor a cry.

Sheik's eyes flashed in sympathy. "You know we'll still be here in the morning, don't you? Please sleep." His whisper broke the dark. Zelda sighed, but settled on the floor beside his legs. He cocked his head while watching her doze. Link had been asleep for over a minute already.

The room was almost black. Faint streaks of moonlight fell in from the roof, really from cracks or a window, he didn't know.

But even with the little streaks of shattered light, the darkness was ruler, crawling across each surface, possessive and protective and silent. Outside the silver-blue sheen of moonlight, he wasn't permitted to see anything.

The world outside wasn't silent – cicadas whistled softly, owls cooed and cried. Another night bird shrieked, and he heard the sharp bark of a fox. No hylian noises reached him, because hylians needed sunlight and safety to thrive, but he could imagine years ago when Kakariko was full of sheikah again, buzzing with life in the late hours. Hylians needed their sun and their safekeeping. Sheikah could dance through life on danger and night with only the barest illumination of the moon to guide their paths. Recognizing that, and staring at the silent and hopefully-sweet-dreaming hylians at his feet, Sheik wondered how shadows and lights could possibly be so different.

He sighed, closing his eyes. It… hadn't really been so long ago… if seventeen years wasn't a lifetime…

The darkness kept trying to swallow him, but the imaginings that played of a world of shifting shadows kept him awake. Just like in the hallway **that**… day…

His eyes cracked open. _All they saw… were curtains and… a shadow by the door…_

Blue light drifted inside, and shattered the darkness. Sheik looked upward.

"Navi."

* * *

Link woke again to soft warmth settled in his hair, a rarer feeling as of late than waking up without. Navi cooed something to him, and her warmth pressed against his temple like a kiss, or maybe like she was saying goodbye. Then she settled back in his hair and hummed until the sound sent him back to dreaming.

The moon slowly melted into view, a disgustingly-wide-grinning moon. A timer appeared at the corner of his mind. Five hours… four hours fifty-nine minutes…

Fifty-eight…

Seven…

Six…

_Endgame._

He watched the moon come crashing towards him.

_I'm going to die here. _

And then he… felt the weight of the luna bearing down on him, crushing him and smearing him across the careless earthen rock. And his life slipped from under his fingers, helpless and too slow to grab it back from the weight of the darkness. Then he woke up and did it again.

For three days, three days, three days…

Always- three…

* * *

The moon grinned at him, fire trailing it in the torn-asunder sky, and it's too-bright eyes were swallowed by the looming threat of it's too-blunt teeth.

He heard every bit of his body cry out in pain. Between tears and silent prayers he sung the notes and the voice called softly to him from the _flashing_-_fading_ world, reduced to the moon's teeth and the tower's stone.

_Do you want to start the three days over?_

He sobbed and sighed and reality shattered, and he opened his eyes on day one.

* * *

Feet pounded over stone. He shot along the dark hall, the dull _clunk clunk_ of his toes against temple-tile his only auditory memory. The hounds of hell upon his heels were soundless and screaming, but the rush of wind and the currents sucking his back told him they were there. The scent of poison lingered. Some gale finally outpaced him, and he felt the sickening rush of air before a rotting odor filled his nose and fingers he couldn't see wrapped around his little body and began to _**squeeze**_…

The air wouldn't come back to his lungs, he was dying, dear Farore he was dying, but how was it he still found the breath to _scream?_ Little flashes of light that distorted his vision made him cry louder, too breathless and weak and the hands he couldn't see kept pulling his body, brushing his face and hair before ripping into him, gouging out lines of flesh while he _howled _and, over the buzz of Tatl for just a second he knew he was loose and he took his sword and _hacked it apart._

The illusion faded. The room stayed dark.

* * *

"Oh… hello, Sheik." The fae sounded tired, but he had more to worry about than her rest. Careful not to wake the hero a few feet from him or the Lady quite nearly underfoot, he spoke.

"Where were you?" His eyes shot to Link, who was very silent and alone, and safely asleep on Impa's floor.

Impa herself, he knew, was somewhere outside and swallowed by night. She wouldn't come back until morning and so he knew that he had plenty of time to get every answer, but at once he wondered if that was really enough…

"… oh, you know, around…" She flickered once, twice in the otherwise abysmal dark.

His eyes narrowed at her, and he supposed her light flashed and reflected in them since she zipped back from his face.

"Why haven't you been staying with Link?" He rumbled, crossing his arms. He felt his shoulders go up and knew that he was baring his teeth, not that they'd do a fairy much harm. Navi drifted a little closer again, light pulling and pushing her aura like a pulse. Her wingbeats were soft sighs of wind in the shadows.

"… I didn't want to tell him."

* * *

Groaning issued from a lump of limbs and blankets on the floor, so Sheik glanced towards it. A bleary-eyed Link had emerged and was looking himself over, groaning and shaking his head. He seemed perplexed. "… moon blood…" He muttered, and looked up. "Goo'mornin'" He bit off around a yawn. Sheik didn't even have an urge to do the same, which was quite worrying to the part of his mind not concerned with everything else in their world…

He quirked an eyebrow. "What was the part before that?" He asked, carefully focusing just on their conversation, and not on a still-sleepy hero or those lonely words that were exchanged while he was still in slumber.

"I said 'I thought I was covered in the moon's blood." Link replied, twitching his nose and frowning. His hat had fallen loose in the night, which Sheik knew to be almost-impossible – the damn hat stayed on through everything. Everything. (One day, they might discover if it could stay on during more carnal activities… such musings he was always quick to banish.) Something else he noticed was that Link's hair was reaching impressive lengths.

"You are the moon." He shot back instead of making a quip about that laughable green cap, although he really did want to, and Link didn't reply to things like that at _oh-dear-goddesses-why_ hours of the morning, so they stopped talking a while.

Link plucked his ill-thought-of hat off the floor, and Sheik saw a flash of blue from the inside – Navi was settled in comfortably, he supposed. A moment later, Link's hair was tucked inside it and the ridiculous thing was back on his head. Link was very likely the only person in existence who could even hope to pull off that… monstrosity.

Considering removal… "How do you keep that thing on, anyway?" Sheik asked.

Link lifted one side of his bangs to reveal a wooden hair comb entangled carefully with blond roots, and stitched to the inside of his cap.

"… ah."

Zelda had woken about an hour ago and was readying herself for their return to the castle. Sheik gave a melancholy sigh.

_When all this blows over… I will see about bringing her back here a day. She would love the view from the mountain…_ He sat up, rifling through a crate he'd brought from downstairs. When he found what he was looking for, and subsequently tossed it onto the floor, Link was done with his morning rituals of staring blankly at things and changing clothes. He'd come over to observe what Sheik was doing. He was giving him a curious look, and his eyes flickered back towards the bed in the corner once, the one Zelda had occupied last night.

"I woke up quite some time ago." Sheik admitted quietly, fetching a scarf to cover his face. He tucked his hair under another one, and under the cloth he smiled. "We'll be leaving in a few minutes, if you're ready. Do you know where Epona is?"

"She would've gone back to the ranch by now." Link murmured. _Malon will want to keep her awhile._

"I see." He didn't say anything beyond that, just picked up what he'd tossed on the floor and made his way down the stairs. "Zelda and Impa are waiting at the stables."

Link grunted, gathering up his few things, and followed. Sheik locked the door behind them.

There was a stable at the bottom of the stairwell, now. It wasn't quite big enough anymore, since several guards and farmers had moved to Kakariko and brought animals with them. So the carpenters were hard at work expanding it when they came into sight. Two horses sat outside the gates, a black mare and a white stallion. Both were hot-blooded steeds, bred for their speed and Link supposed strength. He recognized the stallion as Zelda's favorite.

"Iyatiku!" Sheik called, in what could be almost construed as a _happy_ voice. _Imagine!_ Link shook his head, trying to hide his smirk by tucking it into his chest. His sheikah friend, meanwhile, moved quickly to the black mare's side and began cooing to her while petting her nose and neck.

"I don't understand why you insist on calling her that." Impa muttered from where she was standing by the white horse. Zelda's dress made mounting difficult, but she managed without either of her guardians' aid.

"It's a good name." Sheik shot back, still rubbing the horse's sable coat. He sounded just the slightest bit defensive.

Zelda settled in on her steed's back, sitting side-saddle and fiddling with something on her skirt, before she… Link had _known_ there was something strange about that dress! The front slit open! (to reveal a pair of pants. Of course.) "Masauwu, you're such a good boy." Zelda praised her stallion, (he whinnied back) while she swung her lead leg over to his other flank, and Impa shot Sheik another look.

"You've even got her doing it," She accused, and mounted the horse behind the soon-to-be queen.

Link gave an uneasy look to the mare still being fussed over.

"You're going to have to ride with Sheik, I'm afraid, if you don't have your horse." Impa called to him, confirming Link's suspicions, because he obviously didn't have Epona. It wasn't as though he could fit her in his pocket and carry her around with him.

"I'm sorry, Link." Zelda added very sincerely from where she held the reins.

Navi settled into his hair and gave a sleepy buzz. That made him think of this morning; the comb did most of the work certainly, but Navi helped keep his hat on. With a little bit of magic as adhesive, (because she liked to sleep inside), but he didn't feel the need to tell Sheik that. He could go on thinking it was just the comb.

Sheik mounted his steed just then, offering a hand to Link. Link took it - just because - and settled behind him in the saddle.

"You may want to hold on." Sheik told him, sounding quite amused for reasons Link couldn't figure.

"Be gentle with him, Sheik." Zelda called warningly. Sheik sent a very sharp smirk in her direction before replying.

"He'll be _fine._"

"Why wouldn't I be fine?" Link directed his inquiry at Impa, hands hovering just beside Sheik's sides because Link wasn't quite ready to grab him.

With a few gentle kicks, the horses began to trot.

"Because Sheik is a terrible rider." Zelda answered in her elder guardian's place.

"You always make me sound so horrible. I have never crashed a horse." Sheik protested, whipping the reigns so the trot became a canter.

"Not for lack of trying." Both women shot back immediately, dry as the gerudo desert, and Sheik took one hand from the reigns to flutter to his chest with dramatic flair. (Link was a little concerned about the lack of control on the horse then, but since they were going so slowly…)

"You wound me." That said, he leant forward, took back up the reigns, and whipped the night mare into a full gallop.

Link grabbed onto his waist without the time to think.

From behind them some he heard Zelda give a startled shout, and then scant seconds passed before she was off to their side, heading full-tilt at the… bridge… Link looked around Sheik's shoulder to their front.

"Oh, fu-!"

Sheik, meanwhile, was grinning as he decided to forgo little things like _pathways_ and _bridges_, and chose instead to have his horse jump the brook itself. The brook Epona refused to jump. Link held on tighter and bit back his scream.

_Iblis, please save me from your insane child._ He prayed. The amulet thrummed, _bounce-bounce-bouncing_ against his chest with every slam of hooves on the ground, and he could swear amusement was rolling off it.

With very good incentive, he found himself clinging even tighter. They were approaching the drawbridge full-tilt.

They arrived in the castle less than twenty minutes later, thanks to Sheik driving with a sort of lunacy Link hadn't even considered possible, and Zelda moving just as quickly but with less shortcuts over low walls and terrified pedestrians.

_How dull_, he could just hear his friend thinking.

_Fucking lunatic,_ he thought back. That done and pondered on, Link tried to dismount.

… And found he couldn't, because his arms had locked in place around Sheik's middle. The sheikah was definitely a bad driver, certainly an outright terrifying one. After they'd leapt that hill and barely skirted that cart, Link realized that Ganondorf should've taken lessons. Sheik was terrible but damn was he efficient. All that in mind, he supposed it wasn't really shocking that he had been clinging on quite so tight.

Still Link flushed and fumbled, trying very hard to disentangle his arms, and get off the horse, and maybe collapse on the stable floor to thank the goddesses he was alive for a while. Impa patted his calve sympathetically as she passed by to wait at the stable doors, arms crossed.

Both she and Zelda had ridden with Sheik before – Zelda first, because Impa would have _never_ let them on a horse together even if the world was ending if she'd known how Sheik became. Zelda had come up to her that day and said, wide-eyed, that she was never getting on a horse with Sheik again, even if he wasn't driving. Impa, thinking that Zelda was just being dramatic – she was eleven at the time, after all – went riding with him after. Long story short, Zelda was _very much_ correct.

The soon-to-be-queen gave Link an equally sympathetic look from where she was feeding Masauwu sugar cubes. Sheik – _of course_ - was laughing at him.

"Here, hero." He managed between chuckles, carefully pulling apart Link's fingers so he could release his sadomaniacal friend and get far, far away from his equally evil horse (that wasn't fair. Just because her rider was a diabolical bastard didn't mean the condition extended to her).

Sheik's hands were cold from the wind blasting against them, and calloused from using too many weapons. _Hands that could rip out a heart, or gently clean a wound. Hands that were very skilled at making problems disappear, with pain or numbness or pleasure - _

And goddesses damn it all but _why_ was he noticing that? It didn't matter to him what Sheik's hands felt like…

_Except if… _Oooh, hey, he could get down now! That discovered, he got off the mare and the hell out of dodge. He did his best to cover the flush on his face. Sheik watched him go with a smile and raised eyebrows. Zelda chuckled behind her hand. Impa didn't do anything at all, which was possibly the scariest, because he knew she was watching. That woman saw everything.

Another minute or so passed before Zelda was contented with the state of her horse, and she made for the door. "I have to get ready. I do hope you don't mind waiting in the throne room, Link…?" She murmured, flashing him a melancholy smile. Of course he didn't, and who could refuse when she looked at them like that…?

Sheik was told to escort him, because apparently men weren't supposed to be there while the future queen was dressed, even if they'd shared a body for years and the man could pass as female himself. Link didn't look too far into it and was content to just drift along behind Sheik. He moved behind the living shadow with naught but a faded leather book in hand, pulled from his bag as they left the stables.

"I have to take care of some other things, but if anyone bothers you, for the love of the goddesses, Link, _use_ your title." Sheik hissed at him, knocking his forehead against Link's gently before disappearing down the hallway again. Link shook his head, a little baffled at just _how_ the sheikah displayed affection – head-butts bumps and bruises abound – and opened the heavy doors.

_Colors, _every hue and shade filled up his vision like a whirl of dark and light and broken bottles. Shattered-crystal-sights took some time to grow used to, he found, and once he'd gotten over the gleam and glitter of bejeweled gowns in every imaginable tone (and some probably before unimagined, too) he made his way inside, weaving around the masses of silk and velvet-draped bodies. There was a quiet corner beside one window, just a little in shadow, and he smiled and headed toward it.

Without a thought – and only a slight curiosity for the looks he was given – he dropped on the floor, leaning against the wall as he set his heavy tome upon his lap.

Link cracked it open to the first page.

* * *

"… _the result of a Sheikah and Hylian coupling. Cambion are noted for their beauty and their ability to manipulate – even stubborn and independent individuals have difficulty resisting a cambion's will. Furthermore, it is noted that cambion have a predisposition to wicked temperament, but it would be erroneous to mark them all off as evil. They are the same as any other being –always having their own interests at heart. Beyond physical qualities and common traits, Cambion are also noted as having particularly powerful magic, likely owing to their mixed blood…"_

"Please excuse me, but…" The voice that had cut into his reading was familiar. Link marked his spot carefully with one finger, down to the last word, before looking up. "Oh! I'm sorry. I thought you were someone else…" The Duke stood before him, smiling sheepishly and cocking his head to one side. "You look terribly like a servant girl here…" He almost mumbled but didn't, because nobles didn't mumble; they had to be heard. Still, his voice was almost lost. Link nodded just the smallest bit. Encouraged, the Duke continued, "I believe her name was Schön. I don't suppose you know her…?" He regarded Link thoughtfully, who gave him a faintly amused smile back.

"Ah… yes. She's my… cousin." He settled on, imagining Sheik looming over him with a gerudo's pole-arm in hand. _He's going to gut me_. The smile stayed on his lips.

"… I see… may I sit?" The man in white asked, looking as though he was well out of his normal area of expertise.

Link considered a few moments. Finally, he said, "I wouldn't mind." Murderous red flashed through his mind again.

_Oh good goddesses, he is going to gut me._

Much as Link liked to lecture Zelda on the subject, he was curious. What dark secret could this man possibly hold that Sheik hated him with all his being?

_Not_, he thought, _that it takes any particular amount of trouble to make enemies with Sheik. _The sheikah, after all, was known to start bar brawls for fun. Often while still in dresses. (Zelda had confided this in him a few nights ago, when Sheik had come back to them in a very battered gown with a _very_ satisfied expression.) Still… he normally did have reason for being overprotective. Kind of. Did worrying about cuccos because they'd been known to kill hylians (when provoked) count?

Link clicked his tongue.

Navi had drifted away about midday, again, and he wondered when she would be back

The duke dropped to the floor in front of him, carefully folding his legs so his clothes didn't tangle and trap him on the stone tile. That would be terribly embarrassing, Link supposed. Hell gave him a reserved smile, which Link returned a polite-but-halfhearted one of his own. That done the man in white glanced about the crowded throne room. "… you know, its strange." He murmured a minute into the silence, gaze coming back to rest on Link. "You and your cousin remind me very much of someone I used to know…" His smile was soft, with sadness lingering on the edges of his face as he turned and gazed out the window, to places far away.

Link watched the light from the outside world glow against the white cloth of Hell's clothes. No light touched Link himself, though, where he was nestled in shade.

The duke continued to speak, "… of course, that person is long gone now… I'm not sure why I am even remembering…" He sighed, the smile falling from his face a moment and then, just for that time, he seemed like he would cry.

The hero only watched - careful in noting the details, and taking in everything as unmoving darkness might. "I'm sorry," He said slowly, the words rolling off his tongue not unlike, perhaps, boulders trapped in tar. He thought.

With those words the smile flashed back and obscured anything human in the noble. The man apologized for his lapse and asked Link to please not mind it.

Link kept it very much in mind.

Time passed and bodies faded in and out of the space around them, while they went on to talk about things that didn't really matter.

* * *

Darkness clouded the hallway, and while he really felt it should look like his temple, dusty and cobweb-filled and riddled with long-dead memories, it doesn't. It is clean and quiet and smells of fall breezes, not rotting corpses. He catches another smell though, one that certainly doesn't belong in the tunnel, and that is the smell of something very much living. He creeps further down the shaded path and, beyond a corner which he knows to follow the contours of the throne room; he sees a body watching through an illusioned window, one that looked like a painting on the other side. The hallway was high above the crowd; watching from a sort of balcony hidden from the noble's eyes. There should have been no one in the castle who knew of that hallway, no one but he or Impa or perhaps Zelda, and that was just 'perhaps'. And yet there stood the man in black, the one he kept seeing drifting in and out in the backs of crowds.

He was watching the people below them without much emotion. He seemed… blank. Like a doll or empty slate. As much as he would _like_ to wonder, though, Sheik knew what things could make people become like this and the whole land had tasted seven years worth of them, or perhaps in its concentration they had gotten an eternity's.

This person may well have had his world ripped from his fingers. Sheik, however much he wanted to consider this, had a job to do though, and that was finding out just why this person was here, how they came to find the shadow's hall, and who they really were.

One hand went and kept on his dagger, the one half-bent from the golem in the cavern on Death Mountain, as he broke the silence with his voice. "Who are you? How did you get here?"

The too-bleak stare turned to him in the darkness, considering but unspeaking and emotionless, and he wondered if that could really be called 'alive'.

"… people are so strange." The one he didn't know murmured, casting another look to the crowded room below them. "Wouldn't it be easier if they acted like animals?"

"They are animals." Sheik corrected quietly, because Hylians were animals, just the same as the Sheikah and Zora and everyone else, even though they liked to think it the least. This was just their natural behavior as animals. To flaunt and parade and curry favor with the stronger beasts, the ones in charge.

But he could consider things like that after his questions were answered.

* * *

Navi sounded so tired, diming a second like a firefly about to go out. Just the slightest bit begrudging, because he couldn't stand it when his questions were avoided, Sheik held out hand for her to alight upon, and she did with a soft sigh. He couldn't feel anything besides the faintest warmth of her magic. He supposed the physical forms of fairies resided on another plane.

"I'm only going to tell you." Her high voice whispered, "Because all fairies are born in the forest, I didn't realize. We never realized, not any of us. It was fine at first, but…" She flickered. "I need the woods." Sheik blinked and cocked his head. "I need the magic to exist. One day I started getting weak. Going back to rest… worked for awhile. But… soon, I won't be able to leave at all." She fluttered her wings like she wanted to fly away right then, though she remained perched on his fingers. "Its best I tell you anyway. I know you won't let him get hurt. Because, you'll take care of him without me… won't you? He belongs here."

* * *

Though she wasn't there, Navi's voice echoed in Link's mind for a second. _Watch out_! And he felt honestly like someone was watching _him_. When he looked across the room he didn't see anyone looking though, outside the largely harmless nobility. And with them it was abundantly clear that they were more focused on the sheep astray from their herd than the wolf he'd been sitting with.

Still, Link knew better than to think he was imagining it. So he stretched out his legs, book left open, and pretended to the world at large that he was relaxed. Hell cocked his head to the side, a faint but curious look in his eyes. For just a few more moments the sense of a gaze upon him lingered, before fading like a poe at dawn.

"… it truly is terrible, though." Hell sighed, glancing towards the empty throne. "I can't imagine losing my only parent."

Link stilled, his own gaze swiping over the abandoned chairs of the King and his daughter. The Queen's throne had long remained empty, and now…

Now there would be another reminder of someone lost…

"Like tombstones." He murmured, and Hell started.

"Pardon?" He asked, while almost-white eyebrows rose to his hairline.

"Nothing." Link waved it off, glancing toward the ceiling. The hair pricked up along the back his neck like someone was glaring at him, but he was sure Sheik was still off 'dealing with some things'. Besides that, he couldn't recall inciting anyone else's ire.

The amulet thrummed again. He resisted the urge to touch it with the Duke's eyes still upon him, waiting for words but Iblis, if he was speaking, couldn't make his voice break through. The room was, perhaps, too full of life for the god, and he too couldn't be heard over the clamor… Link shook his head to be rid of such musings, and returned his attention to the man in white, who was looking back over his shoulder into the crowd.

"Oh, my dear Schwarz," He murmured, with his brow creasing in a frown while he focused on someone Link couldn't see, "what kind of trouble are you getting yourself into now?" He sighed, and looked back to Link for a moment to smile. "I'm afraid I must go. It was lovely meeting you," He reached out and gently shook arms with Link as he rose up "Please give your cousin pleasant regards as well." With that he stood fully and disappeared into the throng of moving bodies.

A moment passed, Link turned a page.

He let the noise fade out and the eyes on him fall to small flames, and words came together like so many threads, and became ropes to bind him inside a story.

* * *

The unknown man blinked as Sheik repeated himself. There was something off about his gaze in the dark, flat and broken and too-black…

"I'm no one. Please forget about me." He said quietly, and went back to looking at the window. Sheik gritted his teeth.

"How. Did you get here?"

"It's unimportant." He sighed, "Though really I'm not sure myself. My feet brought me without any direction from my head." He turned and watched Sheik now rather than the crowd, but there was still no spark to his gaze, and Sheik couldn't shake the sense that he was talking to a corpse. "What about you? Why have you chosen to fade from the darkness?"

After a moment where Sheik simply stared, growing more and more distressed, the man sighed.

"I always wanted to fade _in_to it…" he muttered, and looked back to the window. "Wanting to disappear seems more natural than breathing."

"I can help you with that." Sheik rumbled, eyes narrowed threateningly.

"I told you, I don't know how I came to be here. I just am." The dark-haired man didn't sound too concerned that he had a Sheikah who would soon become murderous within arm's reach. Either he had a death wish, or he simply didn't know who he was dealing with.

Sheik wasn't nice enough to enlighten him.

Just as he was fingering the knife that would leave long lines of red all over this man (he wouldn't kill him, at this second his value was undetermined and therefore the opportunities he afforded couldn't be ended without closer inspection) a final melancholy sigh was breathed – this man had black bile in abundance, and it's vocal manifestations were already past becoming irritating – and he looked straight into the one eye of Sheik's he could see. "You know, I've always hated people… Aren't we supposed to be the same?" He asked tiredly, and gestured to the party out the window. "… I have to go now."

And before the knife in Sheik's fingers could reach the man's throat, the darkness swallowed him and left nothing. _Who is supposed to be the same? You and I, or us and them?_

Sheik looked out the window while he brooded, and when he saw the smudge of white and green he swore.

* * *

"Apart from the light there is a mirror, a shattered reflection of possibilities. Once upon a time ink was spilt over that mirror, though, and the shattered reflections of lights fell to shadow… Some darknesses escaped and made themselves at home beside the people of the light, darknesses who's eyes were sharper and bodies stronger than their hylian brothers. **I don't think 'darknesses' is actually a word. **_Isn't your grave missing you?" ( _In this book, they had forgone the margins and scribbled right inside the lines of the story between bits of canonical text.)

"The dark-feathered bird descended then, to a fresh-killed body as his sacrifice and first soul for mourning, and gazing on them he offered shelter from the sun, tucked under his black wings. The dark ones went to the feet of Iblis.

And so the shadow people were born.

With everyday their darkness grew, and every day they stepped closer to their fellows who would not set foot in the dusky plains and harsh mountains of their home.

The hylians, meanwhile, were building cities, worshipping the sun, and basking in day's warm light. They thought, perhaps, that they could purge themselves of darkness in this celestial glow. And in some ways they did, the over-strong light burning apart anything it touched, and making their shadows flee for darkness inside the obsidian shards of a mirror that had become _more_.

The closer you are to the light, the greater your shadow becomes…

Each night the sheikah would edge out into dark, slipping around lanterns, and protecting the hylians out of some residual fondness, a sense of kinship for the people they had once been a part of, before the darkness from the mirror they'd come to touch. And every morning the hylians would pray to the sun to make the darkness fade away, not recognizing what were once their brothers and sisters. Never realizing that such creatures could or would protect them, the hylians trembled in fear of the nigh-unknown sheikah.

Excepting, perhaps, one, as really it only took a spark to start a fire.

Once, a young girl was born to a poor house in the growing kingdom. Every day she went to the stone-and-earth temple to learn from the clerics, and every night she went to bed with a candle flickering in her window which made the shadows dance. She would watch for hours in fascination as they wriggled and leapt, and her life progressed on this way – learning the light and loving the darkness – until she came to the eve of adulthood, and was allowed to encroach upon the borders of her home for the first time. Few hylians ventured there, as it was the only place the light couldn't breach and purify, and there was a terrible beast called Wolfos said to be lurking inside… With twin lights of yellow for eyes that tricked travelers into coming toward it, evil false-lights. When they came too close, it would rip them apart.

**Sounds like your eyes, to me. **_Get out of my book._

… _and thank you._

Her mother fashioned for her a red mantle as a gift, -** I think I've heard this story **- and sent her along on her way. She walked through the woods, skirting on the edges of shadow and light. One foot in the darkness and one under the hot sun, she was contented. Further inside the woods it was only dark though, little shafts of light touching through the tree tops but never managing to reach the earth. Here the colors of the world melted away until only a tapestry of blues remained. For the first time she could ever recall, the girl became the slightest bit leery, but continued through the dark.

The light began to swirl. Soon, she knew, animal eyes were watching her on every side, and the shadows were dancing like the ones of her flickering candle in her room at night. Greater and stronger darkness was born and breathing in that forest… She stood transfixed and watched the motions of dark lines in the world, until the sun fell and the moon hung itself in the sky.

Curious blinking red eyes began to come out in the darkness and watch the light one, who likewise looked around in the darkness where the dancing shadows had faded together. She called out for them, but none of the sheikah had ever _spoken_ to a hylian, just guarded the ones in sleeping, so they stayed dumb and hidden in dark.

They didn't know what to do about this flickering light, so they sat and guarded her, dancing away if she reached too close to where they had hidden.

Hours passed and morning came, though, without the young woman leaving, so the sheikah stole away excepting one who lingered and watched the sunlight crest the treetops… The girl went home, after the sun had fully risen, but every eve she would come back and look for dancing shadows, and the poor confused sheikah would watch her try to watch them.

**So they felt the way I do, whenever you decide to approach me? **_Knock it off,__you're interrupting the story._

Three nights came to pass – **for these things always happened in threes** – in which something would change in her routine. On the seventh night of visiting the forest, she had pushed into the darkness ahead of her and, upon a careless stumble, found a comb lying on the forest floor. It was wrapped in blue and softly shining under the moon, a well-loved trinket of some other girl. It was made with care and sighed of magic, so she tucked it away in her satchel for safekeeping.

On the thirteenth night, **- how do you know which night it was every time? **_I asked Belphegor, now let me write! _**- **she had brought a basket of ripe red apples with her and rolled them into the shadow-space beneath the trees where her vision couldn't reach. When morning light came, she could find all but one of those she hid inside the dark. She could still feel the eyes on her as she departed.

And on the thirty-seventh day, something changed entirely.

* * *

The girl had come from a poor home, and her parents loved her dearly. They had never managed to bear children besides her, but that only encouraged them to do everything they could to ensure her happiness. She had a pretty face, for a poor girl and was skilled at domestic crafts…

One day, when a noble's young son asked for her as his bride, and would accept the smallest dowry – a cloth woven by her hand, he'd said – her parents knew they had found a way for her to be cared for. Just beyond the doors of their humble house she listened, and gathering up her things stole away from the town when they took his hand and shook it.

She ran into the woods, swift and silent with tears running down her face. Married she would have to leave her parents, and her home, and her work. She didn't know what to do without these things, or how her family could give her away so happily – because she didn't realize that, just as she wanted to care for them, they only wanted the best for her - and deep in the woods, she cried these things to her friends the dancing shadows.

This perturbed the real shadows, the living ones, of course, who paid bride prices instead of dowries. Shouldn't it be ensured her parents would be well? The girl's tears softened their hearts though, until finally one darkness broke from the rest to hover just beyond the sunlight where she could see them if she only looked up. The girl kept crying, and as the night wore on every shadow left, lest her tears draw them too into the open.

With shadows gone the animal eyes appeared on the girl again, and her heart caught in her breast and her breath in her throat when she heard the howl of a monster.

Hot breath brushed over her neck, and she felt the claws about to sink into her when the dark of night leapt apart in a violent shatter.

Metal and shadow pelted across the space, tearing into the side of the grey-furred beast, and the girl trembled as she laid her eyes first upon terrible Wolfos, and then the personified dark who pinned its screaming body to the earth.

The sheikah dispatched the beast with a few rough clouts so it went away crying into the woods, before turning towards the spellbound maiden. **… I… I never thought I would ever see you use the word 'maiden'.**

"… _I will protect you, and all of you family, if you give something to me."_ The shadow said, thinking of the dowry she had cried about. The young woman trembled, but only asked what it wished.

So it thought back to the nights passed.

On that seventh night, the most curious shadow had ducked away too quickly and lost something dear.

On that thirteenth night, when the juicy red fruit had touched upon the ground in darkness, it had taken it.

And on this final night, the girl had been crying over blood. The noble in the village and the wolfos both had wanted this blood, and so the Sheikah thought it must be the most valuable thing that could exist, since both man and beast desired it.

And so the shadow made its choice; _Bring me a comb with an eye carved into its handle, a fruit as bright and red as fire, and three drops of that which you hold most precious._

And then, the trembling girl too had a choice.

From her satchel she pulled the mahogany dark comb, still wrapped in blue, and the shadow took it tenderly. It checked over the content of the cloth and ran its fingers over the wood, before tucking them away in a deerskin bag.

Next an apple that the girl had plucked to eat in her flight was brought forth, and given carefully to the darkness, which sat beside her and ate the fruit greedily. Once the last bite had disappeared – and it was certainly the last bite, the dark one devoured everything from the flesh to the stem to the core **how terribly ravenous** – the girl went into her possessions one final time, and drew a knife from her bag. This she held to the darkness.

Overmuch curious, the sheikah didn't stop the knife that grazed at their throat. The girl murmured to them that the edge was wickedly sharp, and would shed that which was most precious, before she pressed the blade into the shadow's hands.

The knife sung upon the girl's flesh next, and then skin was against hers where her red spilled over, and the deal was struck.

The first shadow had been bound to a light.

* * *

"This story has been passed down since before written history in the Sheikah lines. (For ritual details see page 520 'shadow sewing (ritual)' please note the difference between the ritual and battle technique. For battle techniques see page 750 'shadow sewing')"

(Link blanched and smiled, catching the next few lines…)

"_**Can I add something?**_

_No._

_**Please?**_

_No._

… _**I'm adding it anyway.**_

_Damnit, Sanguine-" _The neater text took over the rest of that line, reading "_**This ritual (trading items for protection) has come to be known as an "exchange of wills."The most common ones ask for a symbol of body, spirit, and mind. The body is usually the last gift. (Of course. I'm certain you all understand why **__**that**__** is, if you can understand the rest of Firefly's gibberish.) **_

_**It is the greatest show of trust. **_

_**I have been trying to talk my friend into one, actually… **__Sanguine! __**But for some reason they keep putting it off—"**_

Here the book dissolves to a long scribble and nothing, and for some reason Link can _see_ the author in his mind, pouncing on his unwanted commentator and wrestling him to the ground, before snatching up the pen and mostly-calmly resuming his work, (probably with a huff,)

"A related story to the above tells about the creation of Shadow casters. (see page 400 for definition)" The… what?

… _That's strange_. Link pursed his lips. _What do they mean by shadow caster? A mage? The magic section should be much earlier in the book…_

So he turned the page to check the chapter summary. "_Shadow caster: light beings created from the sheikah. They reside in the dark realm alongside the shadows of Hylians_."

A frown crossed his face. His allotted time had already been swallowed, so he would have to pick up on this later…

Shaking his head, he closed the book and blue flashed in his peripheral vision. Turning he saw the noble from the night before – Midna – weaving through the crowd and smiling. That smile she wore… certainly not kind, more like a snake to it's meal… it spoke of ill tidings. She was speaking with another noble. Red and yellow eyes never looked his way, but that too-sharp smirk only grew on her lips as he watched her.

A chill ran up his spine while the trumpets sounded.

Zelda was prepared for her crowning. When he looked back into the throng of bodies, Midna had disappeared.

The crowd had begun to part as he stood, with his book ready to be returned to his bag in one hand. Colorful clothes weaved in and out until he could only see the carpet leading inside, dyed violet and blue with a great gold-threaded triforce at the end. And then Zelda stepped into sight.

He wanted to gasp, but it wasn't as surprising as fate should have it, that she glowed and was beautiful with a mire of terrible sorrow as her cloudy escort. With every hair pulled taut against her scalp and her whole body done up in glittering gems, she looked like a queen. Her gown trailed the ground behind her like a songbird's sweeping tail and was dyed as many colors which all glittered in the light, and her face and lips were painted in the shades of mourning. Decorative armor on her shoulders gleamed from the light spilt in from the hallway, and jewelry adorned her whole body. She looked like a queen, Link thought again, but she didn't look like Zelda. The smile she gave to the nobility was only that much in name, cold and so terribly alone.

Being at the top of the world must be terribly sad and silent.

* * *

Her eyes passed over the crowd, and they too were too dark and gleaming - with unshed tears and remembrance of now-broken promises, when she glanced upon the empty thrones.

Another tombstone, another way to remember that that person was gone now. And one day, someone other than her father might sit on that space. One day, someone might take his place as king. Zelda shut her eyes and kept walking.

The glass doors ahead of her moving feet opened onto a balcony, and when her slippers touched the white marble she realized _this is real. This is all… happening._ And she had to fight back the tears again. People swam together like smudges of paint on a canvas, and then the whole world blurred. She blinked until it was clear again.

Now was the time. Now… she had to speak. She braced her hands on the balustrade.

* * *

"A terrible thing has happened." Zelda's voice called out to the now-hushed crowd, strong and not like she was trembling with sadness, "My father has, far too soon, come to pass on to the world beyond us. Please pray for him with me one last time, so that he might look down on us to guide and protect, even from his grave this kingdom he regarded as most precious…" she clasped her hands and – inciting the crowd to follow - chanted a melodious prayer for the dead king, before she went on, "Now, as the Lady of Hyrule, I will become queen…" She paused to catch her breath, "I know that you all are likely wondering who I shall marry, who will become king, so I will tell you." She sighed, and gave a wan smile to her people. "I have thought long and hard about this, and prayed to the goddesses. I… believe that this is truly what is best, so please have faith in your Lady." Clatter and clamor begged for answers, but she waited until she could be heard again before she told them. "I will remain a virgin queen."

Murmuring carried up, too quick and too easy, because it had been generations since Hyrule had had just a queen to preside over it. People scream and shouted and cried out, and above all the other din Zelda could swear she heard 'why?' though perhaps it was only in her mind.

Still, it was the best question and so she addressed it, raising one hand to the crowd. "I believe it is too soon, after my father's death," Here, unbidden, a tear slipped down her cheek, and her voice caught a moment, "… to be clear enough of mind to find a suitable king for you, my people. And I myself will be in grieving for… for quite some time." She brought up a white glove to swipe at her eyes, closing them under the too-bright noon sun. "This is not the first time we have had only a queen. My great aunt ruled for three decades before being succeeded by my grandfather, and the realm of Twili is ruled by the Lady Midna without a king. I will, perhaps, reconsider the matter of marriage after a suitable amount of time has passed us, but until then please…" A shiver ran through her when she was blinking down at the crowd. Another tear fell and hit the balcony. Her eyes were growing red about the edges.

"I will not be alone." She continued quite abruptly, voice strong but shuddering. The crowd below had gone gloriously silent and still, and yet almost vibrated with their barely-contained energy. "I have my father's advisors, my lovely Impa, and all the sages to consult with. I will not be alone, and I only want what is best for all of you and this kingdom. So… please, have faith in me." Her solemnly-begging voice carried over the air.

The nobles behind them were unimpressed, some even frowning at the young Lady who'd lost herself and let her real face show to the riffraff and commoners. But she smiled to the people below all the nobility, down in the castle courtyard, and it was a real smile. And the clamor they made was deafening.

* * *

The crowd was crying its support, sympathy and hope floating on the air toward them.

And Link smiled.

Even without the nobles, Zelda could sway the kingdom to her favor. So he didn't worry – everything would be alright in time, he knew that; what made it worth smiling was that that future didn't seem quite so distant to him then.

* * *

**(chapter 9 end)**

Yes I put in a kh reference. I liked the idea of it applying to sheikah

Notes for 9: in the book's fairytale, you may have gone WTF at the comb. Combs are used to symbolize mermaids, sirens, and Aphrodite – symbols of feminine desirability. (thank you, SurLaLune). The comb here is used to show a young woman venturing into adulthood, in my usual skewed and roundabout way.

Sadomaniacal – in this instance, a word coined by my family and friends and I to describe my typical state of manic-sadism. It is also used to refer to particularly crazy and mean-spirited characters. Combination of sadism + maniacal. Sheik completely fits it when he's torturing people.

Nope, Epona's not a pocket cucco, you can't carry her around like that Link~

OMAKE:

"I didn't want to tell him…" Navi murmured in darkness. "… but its true, Sheik… the fact is… I'm PREGNANT!"

"… what?"

"YES! I know its strange, but its true, Sheik! I'm pregnant! I'm having Epona's baby!"

"… _What?"_


	10. Cease existence, or bright shadows

Whine~~~ everyone gets to play SS but me~ *pouts*

Link had ADD last chapter, didn't he? Haha… it was stress.

**Review replies**

Trolley's Bara-chan: My spellfails exposed to the world. Oh, wait, I did that, not you. Eheheh… thanks! And yes, I knew about the dowries thing, its why I included it. (for anyone who has no idea what I'm on about THIS TIME, go read her review of 9 please. It will help you understand the sheikah vs. hylian cultures and the fairytale of chapter 9, too)

Sunnepho: Its fine! I completely understand! You'll find these answers eventually. I'm just not sure when. (Should I… should I really be telling you that…?)

Ryttu3k: my… my insane pleading guilt-trip worked? Awesome! Thank you for reviewing this time! And… I'm really, really glad to hear this isn't *just* a vampire story. That's a high compliment to me, I'm steadfastly trying to avoid it. I hope you continue to enjoy the story. Sheik and Zelda need hugs. Lots of hugs.

Thanks again for humoring my turnip-like self-esteem.

* * *

**(Ready? Go.) **

"Link…" The hero froze, a horrible chill lancing up his spine like of bolt of iced-lightening. A terribly familiar hand clapped down on one shoulder. "What were you doing talking to the duke?" Sheik grinned at him. Link saw death and bloodshed in the curve of his mouth.

* * *

**Chapter 10: Whether sleeping or fading (you stop existing /for a time/) **

"That was wonderful, Zelda." Link congratulated her. She smiled a little tentatively back at him, fingers brushing the crown on her head.

"Really? I wasn't planning on crying like that…"

"It was brilliant." Impa assured while patting her charge on the shoulder. "By doing that, you swayed the whole crowd." Zelda beamed back up at her, and Link listened to approaching footsteps.

"Congratulations and condolences, I wish I didn't have to give them at once." A fourth voice cut in, and Midna walked up to them giving a fox-smile to the new queen. "My dear." She greeted, holding Zelda's hand to give it a kiss.

"Midna. Was that you hexing people while I was giving my speech?" Zelda asked sharply, with one eyebrow up.

"Me? _Never_." Midna gasped, swooning as though Zelda had accused her of being a great burly man under her robes. She clutched her chest and swayed in place a moment, moaning about her poor heart.

And then she pointed at Sheik. "He did it." She accused point blank, devious in voice while her scapegoat squawked that he most certainly _did not_, even though he wanted to! (And they knew that he really, really wanted to.)

Other things he really, really wanted to do involved Link, some adhesive and a maypole (or so the hero himself had been told, by a murderous shade), but thankfully Zelda had interrupted all that.

Link frowned, rubbing the inside of his wrist. Outside calm moments he didn't really notice – a side effect of constant fighting, just like not noticing the amulet's weight was one of constant motion with heavy gear and little peace – but it tingled and burned quietly, and more often than not itched. It hurt to scratch it, of course, but there was something not wholly unpleasant about scraping his nails over it until the urge was gone. He supposed all itches were like that.

A shudder wracked through him when his hand went to the sleeve over his right wrist to do just that. Looking up, he found Impa staring back with a hard glint in her eyes.

_Does she…?_

Biting his lip – damn it but it _itched!_ – he pulled back his nails and tried to focus on Zelda and the Twili noble.

He glanced over to Sheik, who was also looking at Impa. Almost immediately though, the other man's eyes drifted – painful and slow – to Link. '_Oh, shit_.' His gaze telegraphed quite clearly. Link tried not to audibly gulp.

Impa leant down and said something to Zelda. And then she said something to Sheik, and he – looking like most would on their way to the gallows – followed her.

"Link. Please join us." Impa said, clapping a hand down on his shoulder. Impa was tall. Impa was tall, and scary, and he always forgot but she was stronger than him. Much stronger. He almost buckled under the force of her pat.

"… yes ma'am."

* * *

Where they went was a place he hadn't even imagined existed. The shadow garden was quite possibly the most beautiful thing in the castle, certainly the most bizarre, and the pathway to it was hidden down a convoluted system of passages in a part of the castle most often left forgotten. Checkered tiles lined the edges of the ancient courtyard, arches played peek-a-boo with crystal trees and deep blue leaves. Ice-light played on the ground with the indigo darkness. There was a fountain somewhere near them, water cascading against itself in gentle waves. The sound was faint on the air, but it carried to his too-sharp ears anyway.

Impa snapped her fingers. "Sheik. I need three." She didn't elaborate on that, but he seemed to know whatever it was she was asking for because he nodded and skulked off.

As far as Link could see he was resigned and silent and quite dreadful in complexion, before his dark face disappeared under the wavering crystal-and-blue branches of the strange trees.

Impa's gaze turned back to Link. "Start at the beginning, tell as much or as little as you please, so long as you do tell me what transpired in Death Mountain that caused you and his foray into the forbidden."

_Impa. Always. Knew._ Sheik probably got it from her.

"… Are you going to rip out my organs and feed them to me?" He ventured, ducking a little lower. Impa raised her eyebrows.

"Get talking." She ordered.

So… he did.

"… and it was… it was really bad, Impa. It felt like the enchantments on the Shadow temple… and we had to get out of there… so…" He bit off a sigh. "I… I gave him blood. As much as he needed, I didn't ask, we had to get out of there."

Impa's face had remained neutral – imminent devouring of organs seemed unlikely, but he would still worry until the option was taken off the table by the sheikah herself – throughout his narrative. But now that the tale had finished, a little rushed and certainly flushed on Link's part, Impa allowed thoughtfulness to touch upon her face.

A bird started singing somewhere towards the glass ceiling.

"There were tunnels in the mountain used by our people, but there are no sheikah left in Hyrule." Impa murmured. "I suppose it could be a leftover spell gone awry."

"… that could happen?"

"Certainly. A goron could've set it off by accident, and awoken the golem." That didn't entirely explain how they'd gotten down there in the first place, but it wasn't uncommon for the gorons to dig deeper in search of 'yummy rocks'. Link thought it was _too_ close, though. He knew better than to believe in coincidences of this magnitude. Whether Impa chose to share those notions was left unknown.

The faint smell of copper drifted toward them, distracting Link from the current conversation. He heard a whispered curse before Sheik emerged from the twisting illusory grasp of dark branches, a triplicate of bloody still-warm hearts in his grasp.

The red ran over his fingers. Link didn't know any monsters with red blood.

Pivoting on one heel, Impa took off into the darkness. The two young men trailed after her, one with darkness in his eyes and the other with it in his hands.

In the coming winter, the world was changing, and the high-rising bare-bone branches of the icicle trees reminded them with a sinister air. The twigs rustled and tinkled like bells. Link thought back to the funeral.

Water's soft and soothing noise became louder in the air and just around a great drooping tree that refused to relinquish its leaves, they spotted the source; Impa was kneeling beside a fountain. Silver glowed under soft-white moonlight (there was no moon, it was an illusion) and black tile edged the inside. The water glistened and rushed in swirls, brushing the sides and disappearing down hidden drains to shoot from the spout again. He could see the reflections of the crystalline trees and the glass ceiling, and the push-and-pull carried him to calm. Order and chaos, the feminine, life.

Sheik tossed the hearts in and they all watched the warm-red blood spread and stain the water. It spread and spread until a spray of water-blood was spouting from the top, a macabre fountain to make any despot envious. Under moon silver and a touch of magic, the clear purity had changed to sensuality, bloodshed, sin. To… death, Link realized sadly.

Impa retrieved a vial from her waist and mixed it in the murky garnet-and-moon glass.

"I should have, perhaps, done this a long time ago." She drawled, and beckoned them forward.

Sheik's gaze was fixed on the water, dark but not animal yet, and filled with something like trepidation. _This is really happening, _every line of him screamed in disbelief. _This is real._

Link wished he knew what this was.

"You are not a sheikah, Link." Impa spoke clearly, "And you are not tied to Sheik. That was fine. But the moment your blood touched his lips, I'm afraid that changed." Sheik glanced away a second. Link decided not to tell her about that one time with the daggers and dodongos. "You two must be tied."

…_what?_

"Excuse me?" Link couldn't keep all the incredulity from his voice.

Impa stared him down. "A tradition of our people is to tie ourselves to a hylian we've bitten. To ensure an equal exchange. Here, it simply marks you as brother in arms… an honoree sheikah, you could venture." She gestured them forward. "Sheik. Finish the ritual."

Red eyes flashed toward Link a heartbeat, and then Sheik had stolen his hand. Metal flashed – Impa had looked away from them, and Link stared uncomprehendingly at the knife in his hand and the red running from Sheik's arm. That done and his arm bloodied, Sheik held it out over the water of the fountain so the red life arched down, down and splattered against the sinful water– it glittered and sizzled when the two touched.

"… we drink." Sheik murmured to him, crouching beside the fountain and cupping some liquid in his hands. Link went down and did the same.

This wasn't, in its entirety, new to him. Hearts were the main ingredient of potions. Monster blood was just as strong, but harder to prepare and preserve. It was used as a base in blue potions, Link remembered…

The hearts could be used fresh without any cooking or cleaning, though, so they were favored. Monsters would be caught (or killed wild,) their hearts boiled and concentrated, and added to a few other things to produce a healing salve.

In addition, Link had used them for field medicine many times. But this was the first time he'd… had the blood of a human touch on his tongue…

He blinked at the fire-and-metal flavor on his lips and swallowed the potion. He felt the skin of his wrist tingle, and saw it glow softly through his sleeve. _Healing_. The word resonated in his mind, and he felt numb.

Around that time, he decided, half-conciously, that where the hearts had come from he was better off remaining ignorant.

Impa was leaving the clearing as they brought the cupped blood to their lips, but she looked back over her shoulder as they swallowed. "You two are in this together now." Impa spoke as though they hadn't been, and they all knew they had. Though… this was binding. What Impa said meant… this was real. Link bit back and tried not to jump. "Now do what you should have done in the first place, boys. Talk." Her voice had softened a touch, and with that she left them, still kneeing beside the fountain.

The shadows by his knees shifted.

_It's an illusion._

Sheik sighed, collapsing to the ground in a boneless pile. Link joined him after a second and groaned.

"She knows _everything_. How are we supposed to compete?" He demanded of his friend, who let out a half-strangled laugh.

"We have to do something that's its impossible to know, of course." Sheik mumbled, dragging a hand over his eyes. "Gods above, but I thought she was going to make us create an exchange of wills." A full-on laugh issued from his throat. His eyes flickered open to flash at Link. "I'm sorry; I should have warned you about this."

"Would've been nice." Link shot back, still considering the taste of Sheik's blood in his throat. He'd rather not taste it again, to be certain, but his main concern was why Sheik would be bleeding, rather than the flavor or substance. That was a tad worrying in itself. "Anyway, what exactly do we need to talk about?"

"I don't know. Something about me ravishing your virgin bones or the like." Sheik flapped a hand in a gesture of dismissal. With Impa gone and the matter of possibly-human-based potion drinking over, his relief was tangible. And affecting the rest of his behavior quite notably. Link shook his head.

"Right. I somehow think she would've given a refresher course on certain topics, if that were really the case." Those glib words spoken, Link continued to stare up through the shifting branches of the trees, focused on the soft white glow of a far-off ceiling. "How did she know?"

"I honestly couldn't say." Sheik sighed, "But she saw you scratching your wrist, so she knew where'd I'd bitten you."

"Is it supposed to itch?" Link asked curiously.

"No."

Silence lingered for a few moments.

"…You're not going to murder me for talking to the Duke still, right?"

"No, I think Impa was punishment enough."

_Oh. That's… good. Yeah._ Again, silence.

"… we can't get out of here, can we?"

"No. She locked us in."

… _she'll remember we're here, though. Right?_

… _right?_

Link's eyes widened. He glanced at Sheik, but he seemed more pensive than worried about them being locked in for a decade before Impa grew tired of their absence, or remembered where she hid the key. Whatever might cause her to forget about them. Link noticed a little bit of skin around Sheik's eyes was beginning to discolor from a lack of decent rest… and his face was troubled and sad. So Link spoke. "… I'm still really sorry. About… the biting and, everything…" he didn't speak well, of course – what was he supposed to say? That wasn't enough of an excuse to not try, though.

"Its fine, Link." Sheik sighed. "Though I would have preferred that you'd never learned of it at all."

"Well, I'm glad I learned." Link mumbled, thinking of his friend hiding half of his nature their entire time together while he looked out over the space between him and the ceiling. Reality seemed to be far away instead of existing as the air around them, a star in the distance but not a firefly flickering against his fingers. He heard Sheik take in a breath, but whether it was happy or sad was lost to him. When he turned his head to look he found he couldn't see anything of the young man's face beyond the curve of his mouth. It was peeking above his bangs while he lay supine to watch the treetops. Link thought he was looking at the treetops, anyway.

His lips were curled in a smile. Wishing he could see it and knowing it would disappear if he moved, Link closed his eyes and resolved to save the memory.

_One day_, he decided, _I will see him smile unguarded._

Not in relief, or of humor, nor sadness or sinister intent, but in a pure expression of happiness. He wondered if that was strange. Then again, everything was strange lately, so one more thing wouldn't make him fade from reality. It might even bind him to it, like the blood droplets in the fountain had bound their fates.

(Then again, for all he knew their fates were bound long before that. Perhaps the moment he'd accepted the garnet gaud from the devil-god, or perhaps it had been building up since the very day they'd met, a an hour that was almost an eternity ago.)

Stretching his arms out over his head, Link stared at the treetops too. "What is this place?" He heard Sheik moving, and then red eyes were blinking down at him.

"A garden for the sheikah. A… comfort of home, I suppose." He drawled, supporting his weight on one arm while he loomed over Link. The darkness of his eyes was very clear, now. His skin was also getting paler, Link noticed… "These plants are native to silver grottos in the forests of Tot. They also grow in the dark world." That said, Sheik flopped to the ground beside him in a boneless pile. "I should probably clean the blood off my arm." He mumbled thoughtfully.

"With what?" Link demanded, half-wry and considering when the last time he'd even seen Sheik sleep was. The fountain was bloody and there didn't seem to be any sinks in the garden, afterall. Sheik grunted, eyes flickering away. "… alright. what's a silver grotto?"

"An underground place filled with all sorts of things." Was his murmured response. "They can only be touched by moonlight – the sun makes them hide. Sometimes they'll grow near glowing crystal." A half-dreaming sigh drifted from his lips, still stained red. "I saw one a long time ago."

"… I'd like to see one, too." Link decided, and absentmindedly licked the blood from his own. He could swear Sheik's eye fixated on them, then…

The trees rustled and the shadows laughed.

Sheik rolled away from him. The moment shattered, and Link closed his eyes.

"… hey…" He started to murmur, when the time for truth also faded.

They heard footsteps approaching.

* * *

"How did you talk them out of the banquet?" Link wondered.

Zelda blinked. "What makes you think that they would've wanted a banquet?"

"They always want a banquet." He replied bluntly, pulling out Zelda's chair for her. She smiled.

"Ah… well." She shrugged. "I have my ways."

Impa chuckled at that, setting down a steaming pot of stew while simultaneously managing to give Link the very strong impression that she was one of those _'ways'_.

Meanwhile Sheik was holding up a plate of buns – eyeing them very suspiciously, actually.

"Which of you made these?" He rumbled.

"Impa. Why?" Zelda replied in innocence, turning her head to face him.

"Oh, good." Sheik smiled and set them down. "Because your cooking is terrible."

… for about a second, everything was silent, but Impa smiled wider and Link stared in horror as he waited for the inevitable Zelda-produced apocalypse.

"What!" The woman exclaimed, smacking the table. Sheik repeated himself.

Before Zelda could reach across the table (or jump onto it, like Link, Impa and everyone else who'd ever met her knew she dearly wanted to) the eldest of their quartet held out a hand for peace.

"Children. Behave." And she turned to look at Link, and continued looking until he fidgeted and sat like a well-trained dog. Satisfied with this, she nodded and began ladling stew into wooden bowls for them.

About three quarters of an hour ago she had reappeared in the Shadow garden, allowed them out and informed them that they would be dining with the young queen, but hadn't expounded any further on the subject. Link, mystified at the prospect of Zelda eating dinner privately the day of her coronation, and Sheik, mystified that he wasn't threatening Zelda's advisors into letting her eat dinner privately the day of her coronation, followed Impa with questions overflowing.

None had been answered until they had reached the little chambers – far away from the garden, to be certain - where a wooden table and set of chairs were situated, along with their lovely girl.

And it really was private. Besides himself, only Impa, Sheik, and Zelda were admitted. Link was… basically attending a family dinner.

It wasn't the most bizarre thought. He really didn't think that the reality of it deserved to be so terrifying.

As for that, though…

Zelda sighed and sipped her stew. "Midna and I had an interesting chat today." She murmured between spoonfuls.

"Oh? I don't need to rip out her tongue, do I?" Sheik answered very calmly. Link took a bite out of his roll. He was sitting beside Zelda, across from Sheik while Impa was opposite the queen. This could only end well.

"No, no." They all continued eating in the otherwise-silent room. Link wondered if a quick death at the hands of Ganon would have been preferable to the bloody one that was surely coming for him, right from the depths of hell. He was _sure_ this was the prelude. "... In any case, we were discussing suitors. She brought up a noble from the Twili courts…"

"Not Zant." Sheik muttered, glaring into his stew, "Anyone but Zant."

"Not Zant." Zelda confirmed. "As I was saying, she brought up a noble. She said _you_ might perhaps be interested by him."

"Please don't discuss me with Midna."

"Technically we were discussing your love life."

"Don't talk about that either."

Sip, sip, sip. Link was staring in a vague kind of horror at the siblings.

"… well, its already been done. Apparently he's quite skilled at-"

"Zelda."

"-and you-"

"Zelda."

"-virgin, so she presumed.-"

"Zelda." Impa broke in. "You're scaring him." And then she gestured to Link and returned to her meal.

"Please don't discuss my virginity with Midna." Sheik added.

"_What_ virginity?" Zelda muttered, barely loud enough to hear, while picking at her vegetables. Impa – the kind of person whose ears were fine-tuned to _everything_ – looked upward with a sharp expression and one eyebrow raised. Sheik shot Zelda a glare and refused to look at their elder at all.

Link realized, not for the first time, that these people were insane.

He finished his bowl and Impa asked him if he wanted seconds. One moment later found him staring down at another bowl full of dark red liquid, while he wondered if he'd regret his decision.

"- you shouldn't be worrying over such matters, anyway. You've got duties to attend."

"All I did was ask you if I was attractive. Was the roundabout and obscure rant – which I really must commend you on, by the way, you managed to completely avoid the one question I _did_ ask - really necessary?"

"Of course." Sheik nodded, taking a bite from his bun.

"You're very pretty, Zelda." Link assured her, and also wondered if he would regret his first contribution to conversation that night. Zelda beamed. Sheik kicked him under the table.

A chuckle rolled out of Impa's throat, while Link glared back at his friend before sticking out his tongue in a childish display of spite. Sheik smirked and started to snarl out a challenge when Zelda… demanded he find her confections. Since Sheik (along with everyone else) had no idea what a cupcake even was, he was left in a mire of puzzlement while Link tucked back into his meal, Impa did her best not to react, and Zelda laughed to the high heavens. A family of lunatics, Link decided.

And all was well.

* * *

The dinner's clean up was simple – it had all rushed by in a blur, and despite his almost complete lapse in socializing Link hadn't really noticed the flavors of his food, let alone savored them. That made him feel a little guilty, he knew Impa had worked hard on that… But then, he also supposed it was to be expected when thrust into a novel situation such as he had been; it was difficult to focus on anything outside the main event.

Sheik and he (well, mostly Sheik since he was an impatient person and kept taking from Link's pile after he'd finished his own) washed the bowls and silver in a private room, as they were Impa's and she wouldn't have them mixed with the castle's own dinnerware before returning them.

She then whisked those away to her secret silverware hidey-hole or wherever Impa stashed her things, while Link and Sheik stood awkwardly until Zelda mused that she would like to visit her library's study. Apparently since she hadn't been inside in quite some time, or something. Neither of the males could rightly understand why anyone would want to _return_ to a room dedicated to paperwork, but she was Zelda and they tried not to look too hard at any of her obscure habits, lest their minds explode from the pressure (see: Song of storms). So they went along with her wishes, and once she was safely ensconced inside the little torture cell known as an office- er, study, Link and Sheik themselves had settled into the library. Finding the place appropriate, Link had then pulled into existence his own read.

"… _there is light to cast a shadow. The darker the darkness the brighter the light._

_Those who are light, accordingly cast shadows of themselves. Pale stretching things who barely scratch the surface of dark, but there are shades blacker than black because of their burning-white lights. _

_(__**That's kind of dramatic. **_

_Get out of my book.)_

_The darkness is not an opposite but a mirror – inversion of the truth but not the desire or the mind. It is an individual self, connected only by the string of fate to its caster. It exists from birth but does not begin to form its own mind until seven years have passed in full… In some cases the formation takes longer, but the shadow will develop a morality similar to the light. It holds itself back from what the light will thoughtlessly grasp in its palm, and seize in the darkness that which the light covets but never holds." _

Was the rest of the book written more concisely? He supposed it was to be expected in a volume about magic and darkness. Mages had a penchant for melodramatic riddles, at the end of the day.

"… _and the shadow of a shadow is actually a light; it has living starfire eyes and skin like night or the surface of the moon, softness against sharp edges and angles…"_

He rolled the words over in his mind. Despite the sheer amount of flowery insanity, it made sense… somewhat…

"_This light which casts shadows from the dark world are connected to those not made of light but residing in the realm of it. Revealing of the truth within… and radiating the light…_

From there it devolved into puzzles and riddles he couldn't hope decipher, then.

"Hey Sheik. Ever heard of a 'shadow caster'?" Link called to him from the table. Sheik looked up for the bookshelf, eyebrows knitting together.

"No, what is it?"

"A light being connected to sheikah, kind of like how hylians have shadow versions of themselves. Apparently." Link muttered the last part under his breath. Did this mean Dark Link had existed before Ganon had…?

"Light?" Sheik's eyes had widened. Link wonder what could possibly be so…

From inside Zelda's study, there was a crash.

_Nayru damnit. _

* * *

He should have realized something had been wrong, but then wasn't that how these things always started?

Her smiles weren't faked, but the grief also hadn't faded and it had rushed back on her the moment she stepped out of their circle – _please, please be alright_ – and once he'd gotten the door open, he almost wished he hadn't. Cool green eyes assessed him, burning with starlight and power. Someone with his face but not was reclining on the desk, lazily looking themselves over.

A slow, reserved smile unfurled over his features. His hair was untied and falling down in long tresses that were unmistakably Zelda's, even when they were put on this parody of the queen and her guardsman as one. The stolen lips pulled up in sweet, sharp smile. "Why, good evening. Isn't this a pleasant surprise, mon obscurité?" was his address to the horror-stricken sheikah, before his eyes flickered to Link.

The smile became a grin full of teeth.

Sharp, jagged teeth.

"And you brought the Hero…" He murmured it so fondly, like Sheik had just been so thoughtful to do that… and then he lunged.

There was something funny about trying to stop yourself. Sheik learned about it just then, because the light had already woven under his outstretched arms to continue his attempt of assailing Link.

Link's wide, wide eyes shot to Sheik for a second – begging for what he could do, some instruction, aid, _anything at all-_ and Sheik was staring back and his head was screaming _move more move-!_

Because they had no idea what it was doing, not a goddess-forsaken clue but quick as a flash of sunlight through blinds the shade-who-was-not had Link in his grasp and up against the study's doorway. When Link opened his mouth to shout, the shadow caster pressed a very demanding kiss to his lips.

Sheik was not in a happy place.

* * *

This was the least likely thing he expected to spend his night on, but there they were. Too literally.

Link was turning a very interesting shade of red while Sheik's horrible doppelganger shoved its tongue down his throat.

The fact, half-hidden by magic he supposed, that the shadow-caster was using _Zelda's body _immediately made it a thousand-fold worse.

Sheik's fingers clenched at his side. Link snapped out of his daze long enough to head butt light Sheik- Zelda? Sheik's light shade? This was confusing – and scramble away, sliding behind the Sheik who _didn't_ pin him to walls for passionate kisses at random. (He ignored the part of him chiming that it _wouldn't _mind that, so long as it was _his_ Sheik, and not some lunatic light-equivalent of a hylian's darkness made manifest.

… Their world was far too confusing, he often found.)

The shadow caster turned around with a still-bright smile, lips shining from saliva. _Zelda's_ lips.

Goddesses, this was a mess.

But the body in the dress was definitely male…

_Did the magic change her sex?_

And the smile was definitely Sheik's, though on rose lips in a pale face... Sheik scowled. "That body isn't yours." He hissed, canting his head to the side so his eye gleamed in the candlelight. "So why don't you sit down and let me lock you away?"

"That sounds terribly boring." The-one-who-wasn't-Zelda announced with a roll of stars-or-hellfire eyes, before another sharp grin lit them up. "I have a better idea."

* * *

And that was how Link found himself swinging from a chandelier in the dining hall.

Er… perhaps not completely, mind you, but it was a logical transition in his mind. To break it down for those not privy to such unique insights as the ones tucked under his ridiculous green cap, the events went something more along the lines of this; a not-really dark alley, a bad idea, and him really needing to learn to shut his mouth. Zelda's body being possessed by something called a shadow caster, which was a Sheikah's 'light' but could as be defined as a demon from the deepest pits of hell, a very upset Sheik, and a hallway of terrified maids. A lot of screaming.

Some scandalous rumors about Zelda (possibly drunk) would be spreading through the kingdom the next day.

Oh, and of course Link's super-quick-escape abilities, which he was seriously picking up from Sheik (excepting this one, Sheik wouldn't let Link blame this on him). When he was running from Zelda's maniacally laughing possessor, he leapt onto a table and kept jumping. An occupied dinner table, the occupants being nobles and food. Bah. As if that would stop a harried hero or his harasser.

Somewhere to the side, Midna was having a good laugh. And Sheik was expanding the vocabulary of everybody in the room.

Eventually he remembered that terrified nobles weren't just screaming speedbumps though, and bellowed for Midna to clear the hall – this was done between downright maniacal laughs, the teary-eyed woman shooing them off like she was swatting flies. Meanwhile, Sheik had managed to catch up and tackled the shadow-caster, while Link tried to kick and struggle his way higher onto the chandelier because the light being had been _eyeing _his ankles and, well, Zelda was taller than him. He was sure the jump could be made with enough struggle.

Meanwhile Sheik and the light being fought, that being a relative term since one inhabited the body of a frail queen and the other inhabited a happy world where one _did not deck_ his baby sister, even possessed. And that was how, in the incredible struggle-that-was-not, the caster of shadow had a cruel upper hand. Which was also handicapping him a bit, but more when it came to escaping his cast shadow and catching the terrorized hero than in the proposed combat itself. The pros outweighed the cons where they were rolling across the floor in a mess of pulled hair and torn scarves and skirts.

He got away from Sheik soon enough though, cackling and tossing a _tablecloth_ over him because why not, it made as much sense as anything else today, before they returned to eyeing up Link. Sheik's swearing was muffled but it wouldn't be for much longer, and the light one took one backward glance before jumping the table and approaching the space under Link, who had wormed his way entirely onto the light fixture (he'd knocked down several candles in the process, which rolled about the table at the possessor's feet, and thumped the ground quietly when they fell).

Midna, being the ever-helpful noblewoman she was, had pulled back a chair and a plate of appetizers that _weren't _imprinted with the triforce on Link's boots or the heels of Zelda's shoes, and was watching with all the contentment in the world.

Everybody really hated her.

Except, of course, Light Sheik, who was quite happy there was _one_ person who didn't so whole-heartedly disprove of him jumping the Hero of Time's bones.

He made to leap and came up short, and Sheik swore at him. The light one swore back, clutching his chest and staring at it with irate curiosity.

"… worthless weak body…" He was muttering, giving a frustrated look to where his hand clutched on the bodice, when Sheik remembered that he was a powerful spellcaster. One of the best.

Light and fire flickered, dimmed and almost disappeared until the room was colored Nyx black and brown and gold. Swathes of shadow like hair-ribbons* came ripping out of every dark space between the golden lights and bound the imposter's body in the flat blackness of the void…

Midna gave a final laugh as the shadow and eclipsed light stole away. Still decorated in shimmering, half-faded lights, her prize was better, and it was already caught.

* * *

"Oh Link…" A chill ran up his spine, and he wished for a better place to run. Unfortunately, while attaching himself to the chandelier let him escape someone _Zelda's _size, Midna was taller. And she had the means and motive to cut him down without even mounting the table, that was important too.

Sheik had never mentioned that twili could levitate things. He stared in dawning horror at the too-cheerful noble as she lowered him to the floor in grasp of a giant half-there hand. Her eyes were those of a demon.

"I'd like to ask you a few questions about your pretty sheikah…" Midna purred, wrapping her solid fingers up in the neckline of his tunic before _yanking_ so he either followed her or choked.

She sent a sharp glare to the candles still lit. The room went dark as the moonless night outside the castle.

"Try to answer concisely." She tutted, eyes lighting up in the black.

* * *

"You're terrible, you know. A real monster." Light Sheik called from behind the barricade, likely rolling his eyes heavenward.

Sheik heard one fist smack the door. "The first time I'm out in years, and you won't even let me have a bit of fun…" Shadows and lights were inverted images. He tried to remember that, watching them play together over the floor.

At the silence his caster too went cold and quiet.

Sheik left the locked door behind him, slipping back into the main room. There was a certain sharp taste in his mouth when he looked back down the unforeseen's path. A light room for trapping disobedient shadows…

With walls that could take more punishment than Zelda's body could ever hope to give, (at least, now).

He shuddered and sat on his bed, trying not to look again at the hallway that only he could see.

Because fate wasn't done yet taunting him, shadows sliced up from the floor in upside-down waterfalls, morphing into darkness he'd never seen but clearly knew. That presence that was so close to Link's, only the most careful differences existing… It made him hiss in rage. Stronger bloodlust, less mercy, and a sharper tongue.

"… Eh? Whats this? My light has escaped from his keeper's fingers?" the voice wasn't really like Link's, he thought. The tone was one of feigned shock and outrage. "You must be losing your touch, shade…" it dropped to an amused purr, half-harsh in the silence. Sheik didn't look up, just closed his eyes. _Unless Link wants to kill me, I'll be safe. _He reflected.

"Bite me." He muttered instead, carefully tracing a crisscross of scars hidden under his sleeve to calm himself. A brand of the sheikah… he could feel the bump of his burnt flesh from under the fabric.

The Hero's darkside laughed. "Isn't that _your_ thing?"

… It seemed a pertinent point to review that Sheik wasn't having a good night.

Dark Link seemed to realize this and leant back just as red eyes narrowed and flickered up to meet his.

Another wave of shadow was unleashed.

* * *

Both Midna and Link frowned as a flash of power invaded their senses, just for a second. "Someone pissed Sheik off." Midna guessed calmly, glancing at her captive. Link blinked at her and pursed his lips.

_I'm not talking. _He repeated, returning to the line of thought he'd been on when Sheik's momentary rage had interrupted them.

She tried to make him speak, anyway.

"… what would he have to gain if the king's killer was never found?" her latest question ended. Link rolled his eyes.

_Get with the program, Milady. _The vindictive smirk tugging his lips as he stared up at her, eyes half-hooded, reminded of certain irate sheikah. Midna scowled down at him.

"_Look_, you little shit." She grumbled low in her throat, leaning over him so their noses brushed. "Either you answer these questions now, or your friend will be answering them later. Messily."

After a moment spent considering that, in which Midna grew more and more impatient, Link grimaced.

"He didn't have anything to gain." He said, because he couldn't let Midna question Sheik. He just couldn't. Her eyes glittered in surprise a moment before a smile stole over her face, one that might sweet and coaxing if it weren't for the sharp gaze of a hungry snake above it… and was on anyone else's face.

"What a good decision." She muttered, before she patted him on the head.

_Good decision. Right._

Because he _really_ needed to deal with Sheik murdering a neighboring kingdom's queen. Supposing he would just have to get through this quickly, Link spoke up again, "He just wouldn't have done it. Anyway… he threw himself all the way into finding out who did. He… he really loves Zelda, you know?"

This seemed to placate the woman somewhat – perhaps she'd get lost if he kept it up. Her face grew thoughtful.

Midna nodded slowly – she remembered something like that, written in the tired lines of Sheik's expression when he had brought her a half-broken doll so long ago. The little broken doll who had been crying - sobbing that she hated him. Sheik had a different look on his face back then, a sadder one, and he didn't rebuke her or defend himself, just braced his shoulders for the weight of more blame to fall there… But Link didn't need to know that. She barely suppressed a new smile from curling her lips.

"Sheik couldn't have killed the king, anyway. He was with me the whole time."

… wait. Thought-train derailed. Midna raised an eyebrow. "All of it? Even the whole night?"

"All night." He said flatly, and couldn't figure out why she looked so impressed all the sudden.

"No kidding." She paused to give a low whistle, looking him over as if searching for visual proof. Whatever it was she wanted, he guessed she found it… probably, because she stopped. He was a honestly a touch unsettled, but by whatever means he would get through this. "Well, thanks kid." She chirped, and spun on her heel to leave.

See? Success.

"What, no threats of bodily harm to discourage me from mentioning this to anyone?" He couldn't resist demanding, a little wry, of the woman's back. She gave a sharp and wholly unpleasant laugh, more like a rebuke than a response.

"Silly boy. Don't you realize I already have a noose around your neck?" She cackled, dancing into a pool of black shadow so only her gaze was left for him. Her eyes narrowed to yellow-red slits in the dark. "If anyone found out the king was murdered, I wonder who they'd suspect first~?"

And so the eyes faded.

Link realized just how neatly they were trapped. "Farore damn it all."

* * *

Dark Link swore from the other side of the curtain, pressing a gentle hand to his side. It oozed black. The barrier between light and dark worlds was thin but strong under his fingers, metal mesh layered with sheepskin.

The perpetual darkness of the realm swathed him and shadows stitched his wounds, and rushed into him as new life when he breathed.

_He doesn't pull his punches. _

All the better for protecting his light, he supposed, but at once wished that ruthless energy wasn't directed at him. It was never wise to enrage a shadow, and the princess's pet had more years of experience than Dark Link himself… he was also, though it was loathsome to admit, better. His foolish light had no idea just how lucky he was that the sheikah was _protecting_ him instead of ripping out his throat…

_Well, perhaps he can do both._ Dark Link reflected with a smirk.

But- as much as he would like to stand about and ruminate on all of that, he'd gone looking around the light world for a reason. It just turned out that, for once, his light wasn't beside the dark one or in his chambers… (Dark Link paused a moment to frown about this. He really shouldn't be able to just _assume_ his light was in some lunatic sheikah's chambers.) Which meant he would have to go skulking about the castle to find him instead. Hoping deep in his black little heart that the meddlesome Lady wasn't skulking about, he ripped open the boundary between worlds once more and hoped he'd get lucky, because he sure as hell wasn't aiming.

* * *

Link frowned. He knew that Navi had just been with him in the afternoon, but he felt as though she should have returned to him by then…

The moonless night spilled over him in waterfalls of ink. He sighed and leaned against the wall, rubbing a scar on his shoulder without any real thought as he gazed outside through a window cut in the stone. Iblis's amulet was heavy round his neck, and he pulled it out to rest over his tunic before settling himself in completely. The night wind he couldn't feel was begging him to come and play, rushing against the high castle walls with whistles and gusts of noise.

He wondered where Sheik had gone with the warped light, but soon realized it didn't matter. Sheik would do what he would, and somehow bring Zelda back. Though why… Sheik's caster was controlling Zelda, was another matter entirely…

His vision blurred, his eyes flickered shut. The wall was cool and smooth under his back when he slid down it. After escaping Midna's cold, psychotic grasp he'd migrated towards the less crowded parts of the castle because he really didn't think he could stand being near humans just then. Fortuna smiled, and he had found a wing abandoned. The light here was all blue, blue like the color of moonlit night skies and the clothes of the people who frequented the world of night, and he looked up on the wall and realized there was a bleeding eye painted on the stone. It looked black under the scant starlight.

Unbidden a smile stole over his lips. Less crowded, indeed. This was really an abandoned wing. Those people… didn't exist anymore.

Blue eyes slid back down the darkness, and in the doorway of one darkened room he saw a blurry shadow. A little, little body, like that of a child slowly came into his focus – color then form.

When all was done a little girl stood in the darkness with red eyes fixed on his disbelieving blue ones. She tilted her head at him and mouthed something slowly.

'_You see me?'_

Slow and lazy, he raised his hand in a wave. Something moved around her waist, and when he looked a pair of wide, narrow wings nestled in the small of her back were extended out, and fluttering gently. A long tail with a spaded tip curved around her legs. His eyebrows went up.

_A devil?_

Was this an apparition, a person, or… a genuine spirit…? The smile on her face was sweet and happy, and he frowned. _What on earth am I seeing?_

'_I can't talk to you.' _She mouthed, gesturing first to herself then him as she spoke, _'Need to warn you.' _She added, and looked up at the night sky out the window. She frowned. With a sharp wave, she stepped back and disappeared in darkness.

_Something approaches, something approaches, _his own thoughts echoed.

_A shadow a shadow a shadow in the dark…_

Link glanced down the hall to where Sheik rounded the corner, as silent as he'd ever been.

* * *

_Eight hours twenty-nine minutes…_

_Twenty-eight…_

_Not for much longer._

The shadow caster was contemplating the wall, a scowl tugging his lips, when darkness swirled into existence on the floor next to him. A body popped into being in his little closet, and looked around while the shadow caster tried to stifle his sudden smile.

"… Who the hell are you? You're not Link." The shadow protested, sounding irate, when he turned to look at him.

Light Sheik canted his head to the side in consideration. "No." He agreed with half-lidded eyes, "But you are."

All the sudden, Dark Link looked the slightest bit nervous.

* * *

**Chapter 10 end. **

AN: … holy shit CHAPTER 10!

Preemptively striking this: Hylians can hear danger, in the air around them. Its what told Link Sheik was coming, and it is totally credited to Sunnepho~ thank you for letting me use it! I would hve put this at the beginning of the chapter, but it made more sense as an afternote.

**Omake:**

"_What_ virginity?" Zelda muttered, barely loud enough to hear, while picking at her vegetables. Impa – the kind of person whose ears were fine-tuned to _everything_ – looked upward with a sharp expression and one eyebrow raised. Link heard because he had the misfortune of being a hylian, and was seated right next to her. Sheik shot Zelda a glare and refused to look at their elder at all. And so Link's thoughts would be littered, later on, with images of Sheik the not-virgin doing things with some faceless noble, that had somehow wound up looking like Tingle. Gah.

Dinner sucked.


	11. Belial

Before we start, I would like to make a note: _Fuck you_, numerical consistency. I can have 1,000 word chapters between 5000 word ones if I want to.

**Review responses:**

**Sunnepho: I seem to be predicting a lot from SS. Ooops… hehehe. Thank you!**

**Trolly's Bara-chan: My response is too long… so, just, thank you~**

**Ryttu3: that omake bothered everyone. So it entertained me. **

**CottonCandyHaze: your dramatic style of review-writing entertains me (and made me blush with all the praise. Gah). Thank you, and I hope you continue to enjoy the story!**

**To all my reviewers: you guys are AWESOME. **

Sorry about the slight lateness… I think updates will start taking about two weeks now unless I go CRAZY on this, or its short chapter, because I'm now working on another story alongside this. Still, SR is still going strong and I don't plan any breaks anytime soon. So please bear with me, everyone. We're going to have some fun~!

"If you hate a person, you hate something in him that is part of yourself. What isn't part of ourselves doesn't disturb us."

Herman Hesse

* * *

_**Ready? Go.**_

"_The light that swallowed up death. I guess that would be me, in the strictest sense, but you must be wrong. _

_I can't rip apart shadows. _

_I belong in them"._

* * *

**Chapter 11: The light who swallowed even death (Belial)**

"I believe I've discovered the murderer." Sheik's voice rung out in the empty room. Impa glanced up from her work, quirking a brow. The papers could wait.

"Who?" She asked quietly, already running over a multitude of faces in her mind…

"I… don't know." He uttered a soft swear and looked down. "He managed to escape me. He used the darkness." Unfortunate, but…

"I see." That would narrow it down considerably. Impa almost smiled. "Good."

'Considerably' being… less than three.

That in mind, she glanced back to her papers. "Why don't you find Link?" She suggested, canting her head. Sheik narrowed his eyes.

_You're not upset…?_

"Since you've already hidden away Zelda." That tone spoke of amusement rather than scolding, and he took his leave before that could change.

_Does she know something I don't know? Or just don't realize…?_

* * *

_The new moon spoke of rebirth and ignorant childhood._

"_I need a voice."_

_Spoke one whose power came into peak when the Luna was full._

* * *

The old quarters of the sheikah were dreary and dark… no one ever ventured here, whispering of ill fates and high stakes and disappearing into darkness. Specters would drift between the walls and lead the blind living astray, down a lonely path to die.

Somehow it didn't surprise him to find Link in the center of it.

The amulet from that day in the graveyard, (he admitted he'd wait for Link, then, hadn't he?) seeming so long ago now, was out and over his tunic, glowing faintly under the moonlight… never seeming to realize a presence or notice Sheik at all, Link tilted his head to the side. Sheik watched him close his eyes, while his ears twitched. Sheik couldn't hear a thing. He wondered if it was those godly voices speaking again.

Then the sky-eyes flicked open and landed on him. A frown curved the hero's lips, and he glanced behind Sheik once as if wondering…

"Someplace safe until this matter is dealt with." Sheik murmured.

"_I only have so much time out; it wouldn't hurt to let me have a bit of fun…"_

He walked over the window where the only light spilt in, glancing back a second to where the moon's silver blood spilt over his friend's face… the lighter skin of the hylian was painted blue-white, the surface of a lake and the expression of reflection… deeper blue eyes roamed the darkness around them before looking back and Sheik, and staying there.

"You know this isn't a place for hylians, don't you?"

A smile cracked over the moon-white lips. "Aren't I allowed?" Link sounded more amused than upset, and sweet rather than sorrowful…

Sheik faltered. "Well… yes." He glanced back out the window and realized that there wasn't a moon at all.

_What…?_ He looked back to Link, and the white light was still there… something he couldn't trace illuminated the hylian. Besides all that, the gem was glowing again. "Link… what exactly… is that?" The faint red pulsed brighter then receded entirely, so the white light was gone from Link's face and the amulet was just a gaudy piece of jewelry again.

"This?" Link gestured to the necklace and gave an uneasy smile. "A lead weight. It only looks like gold." And then he laughed. And it… didn't sound like him anymore. He slid up from the floor and meandered over, leaning on the windowsill. Once he'd gotten comfortable he cast Sheik a sidelong smile and a glance from red eyes that should have been blue. "I asked really nicely, so don't be mad at him." The imposter said, tilting Link's head. Sheik wondered what exactly had found Link alone in this place. When he thought he should move, speak… he found himself seized and frozen like the wings of a bird were wrapped around him, and held his arms at his sides and his feet on the ground.

"Something bad is happening, you know. But don't worry about that light in the hidden place. Your problems are much bigger." As Link's body continued to speak, his voice changed in pitch to that of a young child's… "Remember 'dark' - I'm out of time." And the red eyes faded and fell to deep blue. The sense of wings disappeared, just as Link blinked at him.

"Uh… hi." He managed in his own voice, the right pitch and drawl and tone…

'_I asked really nicely.'_ Those words echoed in his mind. So… Sheik reached over and smacked him. _Like hell_ he wouldn't be mad.

* * *

"Oh, don't make such a face…" the shadow caster purred, sidling up to Dark Link the way only villains and prostitutes could. "I don't bite… hard." He flashed his teeth, while Dark Link pressed himself as far into the wall as he could go.

"_What the hell are you?_" He squeaked, trying to worm away from the slight heat he felt radiating off its skin.

"An inverted mirror. You should know what that's like." The light-being answered, before grinning and crashing their lips together.

One hand, gently-burning to the touch, grabbed his chin and tilted his head up, into the lips pressing against his and the tongue that was trying to tease open an entrance…

Dark Link's eyes slid shut and his lips slipped open.

_Seven hours thirty-eight minutes…_

Many long moments later, the shadow caster pulled back and Dark Link stared at a spot beyond his shoulder in a daze.

"Now then…" He purred, tracing not-quite there designs of fire onto Dark Link's shoulder, "how about helping me out of here, hm?"

* * *

The dark world was a dreary place. Still, it was home, long lost and not-quite beloved, but now he had a better reason to miss it…

Green eyes slid over to that reason, cursing in the dreary dark. The shade of the hero was muttering quiet epithets to himself while he looked over the tree that was, essentially, the center of the world.

"The shadow I cast seems to have taken a… liking, to your light." Shadow caster stated absently, almost amused as he leaned back in his stolen heels. It didn't really matter to him if his new companion found what he was looking for.

"Yeah… I kind of got that after you pinned me to the wall…" Dark Link muttered, spitting out a whole slew of foul phrases when he came up fruitless still. "It has to be around here _somewhere!_" He snarled, tearing into the tree with sharp claws. They really were so lovely, when he was vicious…

Shadow caster's lips curled a little more. "I've only gotten to see bits and pieces." He admitted, though it was unlikely the shade – or anyone else – would understand just what he'd meant. "How exactly has the world changed?" Dark Link turned back to him slowly, eyebrows arching up. His claws were still there and flexing like they wanted a throat, or perhaps he was just uneasy… for a moment, Sheik's light toyed with the idea of going over and grasping that hand, to see if Dark Link calmed or tore into him with blade-like fingers.

"… Bits and pieces?" He echoed uncertainly.

_Uneasy, then._ The light slithered over, brushing a fond hand over his face with half-lidded eyes. "The idiot king ripped me out this place to stay beside the sheikah. I simply sat and watched the world…"

_Worthless. Everything about me that is worthless. I can see it in you, and I __**hate**__ that part of myself. I hate us…_

_The green eyes traced _his_ pacing silently while _his_ heart –their heart?- cried out between them, hissing and whispering and breaking._

_Terrible, worthless scourge of the world…_

"… Until the day I was put into this… body." He gestured down, at the now tattered gown and the opera-length gloves of the lovely Queen. Dark Link faltered.

"That really is… the Lady?" He ventured, eyeing the triforce hung on what should have been Zelda's neck. The lips curved even higher in the ever-present half-smirk half-smile.

"It really isn't a disguise." The correction was purred beside one pale gray ear. The false-light was tracing a hand up Dark Link's arm as he spoke, gentle and disarming and a little terrifying… "Of course, it's not really a skin I'm quite used to… the girl is so _fragile_, you know."

Dark Link leant into the touch without really giving himself the time to think. There was something seductive nestled in the threatening presence, and his eyes flit shut a moment to let the shadow caster's voice meld with the air around him. When they opened again, a dark smile was on his lips. "Sharing a skin with the girl… I bet the sheikah **hates** that."

_Of course._ The green eyes got a little softer even as he smirked back. "You have no idea." Their noses brushed when he said it, or rather sighed it to the shadow. "I only have so much time out before the dear thing wakes. I don't suppose you'd be interested in some fun first…?" He offered softly, one finger brushing under Dark Link's chin to curve over his throat…

After a moment Dark Link snorted, and retreated to where he had been searching. He started again. His face was red.

"Sure. But can't you get out of that dress first? It's so… weird." The light one looked down on Zelda's tattered gown, shadows whispering at the hem like curious puppies.

"I could…" He muttered, sounding contemplative. "I… would actually prefer it, but my clothes would disappear the moment…" He paused, still staring hard at the gown. "… I don't want her to wake up naked." He settled on. Dark Link shifted, but didn't look at him.

After a few seconds where he seemed to consider it, he made a noise of understanding. Shadow caster watched him, but he didn't look back after that either. A few more moments passed before the shade gave a final rummage, sighed, and conceded defeat. Dark Link turned back to Shadow caster. "Shall we go?"

Green eyes flashed, and a sharp smirk stole over his lips.

'_Worthless' the word echoed in his mind, and he wondered; what is worthless?_

_No one ever answered him. _

* * *

"I still don't see the issue…" Link mumbled, trudging alongside Sheik and looking like he was ten again, pouting and petulant.

"The issue is you let some entity _you didn't even know_ use your body. What if she had hurt you, Link? What if she did something wrong! What if she wasn't even a she, but a poe who wanted to murder half the castle?"

"I don't think a poe pretend to be a _devil_ to get me to trust them."

"… alright, so you probably have a point there, but _still_." Sheik grumbled, glancing off to the side.

With his eyes narrowed in frustration Link watched him, half-lit by the starlight from high windows. Their corridor was abandoned and empty, lonely except for them… Hopefully not a metaphor for their lives, Link thought. "… What's the problem? I can take care of myself." He demanded faintly, almost giving up. He didn't really hope for a response.

"The problem is I worry about you." Sheik muttered back, and refused to look his way. Link stopped walking. Sheik didn't.

_He's still better than anyone at throwing me off. _"… How do you say things like that so easily?" He mumbled, just as the sheikah reached the doorway at the hall's end. He didn't look back.

"Are you coming or not?" He asked after a pause. So Link ran to catch up, glancing towards the star shine in the windows. He wondered how long Sheik would wait for him… He'd waited seven years, Link supposed, but that really wasn't for _him _so much as a hero who could change the world… And anyway, what was seven years, really? A heartbeat or an eternity?

And… Neither answer mattered as much as whether Sheik would do it again. He had already waited that long, he just hadn't known it was for Link.

As he reached his irritating enigma of a friend and the door cracked open, Link realized he was going to be driven mad if he didn't learn the trick to living in constant wonder and confusion. Sheik turned to look in his eyes a moment. "Practice." He murmured, bumping Link's shoulder with his own before slipping though the door.

_Practice lets you tell me those things that… mean so much, without batting an eyelash? When would you practice something like that? How? _Link hurried to keep pace – Sheik was taking longer strides now, eyes scanning the walls. Far off, for the first time since he lost himself in the shadow's wing, Link heard the sound of life. He supposed they were on the borders of the rest of the castle, then.

"I think I found it." Sheik murmured suddenly, voice sharp and almost-excited. Link knew it had nothing to do with what they'd been talking about before, because every part of Sheik had changed just now. He was tense and fidgeting, not fluid and terse like moments ago… "I think I found it. Link… I want you to stay with me."

"I'm with you right now." Link muttered, glancing at him as though he'd suggested they go streaking stark-naked through the castle. "And I wasn't planning on going anywhere else." Sheik stopped and clapped a hand on Link's shoulder. Obliging him, Link came to a halt as well, and turned when indicated. Sheik's other hand came to rest on his opposite shoulder.

"No. I want you to _stay_ with me. Here in the castle, tonight. In my quarters if we must, but I-! … Why are you red?"

"I'm red?" Link choked, the butterflies in his stomach happily ripping out his throat and his greater thought processes.

"We've been over this." Sheik muttered, pressing a hand to Link's forehead. "You don't have a fever… Are you- are you blushing?" He canted his head, one eyebrow arching and his lips pursed in pure disbelief. Link fidgeted. Sheik continued to puzzle on his own. "… can't see why you'd be blushing... was it something I said? I don't think I said any… oh." Sheik paused, and seemed to consider it a moment. "… _oh_." And Link saw his cheeks get darker, though the night sapped the color. He supposed that was how Sheik knew he'd been flushed in the first place.

An uncomfortable moment passed between them. Sheik let go of Link's shoulders. "That wasn't what I meant." He said, with what would've been an impressively straight expression if he weren't still blushing. "That. Definitely…"

_Pat pat pat… footsteps? I think that those might be…_

"wasn't what I meant. Link…" He trailed off into a sigh, as Link stiffened. After a moment they could hear someone coming, and a candle's light flickered around a bend in their corridor. Sheik moved in front of Link just as a muttering Hell rounded the corner, the source of light a faintly-glowing candle in his hand.

"… Doesn't mix…" Link heard him whispering to the flame, and his eyes flashed towards the ceiling in either exasperation or desperation. Perhaps both.

His eyes caught on them when he came back down and he started, looking like a dear in the headlights.

Always happy to exacerbate bad situations, Sheik growled low in his throat. A feral sound, like a predator snarling 'mine'… Link closed his eyes and bit back a sigh.

Hell gave a very slow blink. "… Am I… interrupting something?" He asked, in a dreading tone. Sheik opened his mouth, and Link had the most horrible feeling that he was going to say 'yes' in the absolute worst way he could, so he stepped around his friend.

"Not at all. You wouldn't happen to be lost though, would you?" He cut in as diplomatically as he could. The duke canted his head, eyes flicking from the very not-happy sheikah to the tactful young hylian.

"I suppose I am." He mumbled, half to himself, then, "I was looking for someone. I need to ask them a question. It's… important."

"Funny thing about shadows. They don't always appear when you want them to." Sheik said flippantly, glaring hellfire over Link's shoulder.

Hell narrowed his eyes back. "I wasn't looking for one." The words were clipped and slow. He turned his gaze back to Link and softened, though. "You really do look like her." It was said in a wondering, faint voice, before Hell shook his head. "I need Schwarz." He mumbled, bidding them goodnight before walking past them and further into the winding corridor.

"… That's the second time he's mentioned that name." Link murmured. Sheik was watching the darkness they'd emerged from with a calculating stare, even after the candlelight disappeared.

"Really now?" Link jolted, because _oh goddesses __when__ had Sheik gotten that close behind him?_ "You should tell me more about that in private." Sheik murmured into his ear, and pulled him through the darkness to another hidden corridor.

* * *

The darkness coiled around him, faintly warm and wonderful like an old blanket…

Shadow caster closed his eyes and leaned into the phantom caress, and in a too-short moment they were back in the light world and landing on solid earth again. Dark Link smirked. "Not used to it, huh?"

"No." The light purred, giving a languorous stretch. "It's a nice feeling… I'm jealous. You get to feel that everytime you move, don't you?" He trailed off, closing his eyes a moment. "… How much power do you think I can pour into this body without breaking it?" He wondered when he opened them again, with a smile so dark and inviting it was lewd. A startled, half-nervous laugh spilled from Dark Link's lips.

"I… I don't know, I guess you'll find out…" He muttered, taking a step back. Shadow caster, satisfied with this level of unease, ceased eyeing him like steak and looked around them instead.

"… Interesting choice of venue." He said faintly.

Red eyes flashed. "You don't like it?"

"It will do."

* * *

There was a certain amount of entertainment value in everything Sheik did this evening. That thought shattered the oppressive feelings of the darkness and let Link crack a smile, even as he was drawn down another pitch black hall by the fingers on the small of his back. Sheik continued guiding him without sight through the shadow's paths. Link didn't think he would remember the way back, though… he couldn't even see the man beside him as they ventured through the ether. The fingers, previously curved over his back to guide him, caught in his tunic and stalled him instead and he heard the metallic click of a lock after a moment. Faint light spilled from the open door, illuminating Sheik's face in a pale wash of green. His other eye stayed in shadow, but that Link could see it at all was what caught his attention. The red eyes flickered to him, black and green and white from the pale glow, and for a moment Link was struck with the image of the Shadow caster.

_They are the same. _What exactly was an inverted mirror, anyway?

"Go." Sheik murmured, and Link stepped inside. The faint warmth of someone behind him told that Sheik had moved, and the door clicked shut and locked again. Link glanced around them – he hadn't realized when the door had first opened, but this was definitely Sheik's room. The quarters looked different than before, in the pale green light. What… what was that? Link narrowed his eyes at a jagged crystal on a crate.

Sheik walked over to it, settling beside it on another box. "He's mentioned someone named Schwarz before, you said?" The words shattered Link's thoughts and dragged them – kicking and screaming – back to the crux of their current issue.

Slinking over to settle on the floor – Sheik quirked a brow at him, Link sent him a weary smile back – in front of his friend, he leaned forward and rested his arms on his knees. "Earlier today, well… perhaps yesterday, has the witching hour come to pass?"

"It doesn't matter. Go on." With those red eyes gleaming at him, who was he to disobey?

"He was speaking to me – yes, I know you know about that, stop glaring and stay on topic – but just before Zelda arrived, he looked into the crowd and saw… someone, I guess, I don't know for certain, but he said 'my dear Schwarz, what are you getting yourself into?' and left… Then I felt someone glaring at me - … that was _you, _wasn't it?" Link realized, narrowing his eyes a second. Sheik smirked. After a moment Link continued, "– and Zelda came in and blew everyone away."

* * *

Today hadn't been his best day. True, he had found crucial evidence… at the cost of _losing _what was most likely perpetrator. But he… had to be positive. The good things today vastly outnumbered the bad. They were what would make life bearable. List the good, list the good…

Zelda, still unaware of the ill-fated king's murder, had shown up the nobility and garnered the love and support of her subjects.

Midna had announced her intentions of staying for a time – she had… also mentioned leaving her kingdom in her cousin's hands, for that time, because; "Zant can run the kingdom for five minutes."

… Sheik, who had actually _met_ Zant, had some very reasonable doubts about that, but they had a council of advisors for a reason. Apparently in Midna's mind that reason was to supervise the court fool's day as king, but who was Sheik to question Midna's judgment? (A sane and rational person with extensive experience in the politics of ruling a kingdom. Not that that made any difference at all when the woman made up her mind about something.)

And alright, Impa's intrusion on Link and his bizarrely intertwined fates had terrified him, but she'd more or less left them the same, except that now Sheik had a formal excuse for pulling Link out of danger by his hair, (or ankles or whatever part was closest, he wasn't choosey) and… well, Link wasn't likely to know much about sheikah oral tradition so Sheik could pretty much make crap up if he needed to. And Link _wouldn't_ know that he had the right to throw himself right alongside Sheik into whatever ridiculous battles he decided to wage, hopefully, because he didn't know about those mentioned traditions. In these ways that little incident in the shadow garden had blossomed from a nightmare bud into a blessing. A horrible, blood scented blessing that he didn't want to repeat anytime soon, but still.

He'd even had a family dinner for the first time in months. It was… wonderful, when he blocked out that part about Zelda and virginity discussions and Link's ears turning bright red because _he had heard._ Really, it had been a stupendously good day.

And yet… his mind still strayed from that path back to the shadowed hall, and the face with lifeless eyes. It warped everything in the world – even his quarters, lonely and empty, had never seemed so wrong. Everything was twisted… would be, until he found and ripped apart the aberration. There was a morose, buzzing emptiness inside him… a yawning pit in his chest that reminded he still hadn't found them. He still hadn't fixed this mistake, this nightmare remnant of the dark days that lasted seven years but should have been fading into the past for them. If the regicide escaped from his fingers… it just couldn't happen. And yet it seemed that if he didn't grasp the pieces in front of him, it would.

So he wanted to reach out and grab hold to solve it… and when he did he found he couldn't see them. There were too many questions unanswered. How shadows, because there were none left, why the king, except to rule the kingdom… Sheik paused and shook his head.

Link was saying strange things again. 'Blew them away' indeed.

"… That's certainly one way to put it." He muttered, his eyes shutting a moment as he recalled slinking down from the shadow's path into the throne room, and slipping behind the curtains by the balcony… "But he didn't tell you anything else about him?"

"No." Link's voice was blunt and pained. The word sounded frustrated, though not defeated… Link was holding out hope. That in mind, Sheik smiled and tugged his scarf up a little more to hide it. Really, if the hero believed in him, he had nothing to worry about at all. He would do this.

That bout of black bile dealt with – without Link even knowing that Sheik needed cheering up – they moved on, just a little, but enough to see the sun. "… Why would someone kill the king?" Link asked, sudden and strong. He sat up straight, and his eyes flashed with the wonderful determination of a hero. It was the look he'd had faced with each temple and every foe…

"To take over the kingdom." Sheik returned bluntly. He'd visited this route before, but fresh eyes had a way of changing things, and that look on Link's face was on the verge of exciting him.

"And how would they do that if they're not engaged to Zelda?" Link asked brightly, lips tugged downward. Unlike the solemn hero, Sheik was grinning. He thought he could see the edges of those pieces again…

The one that landed right in his fingers a second after was unpleasant, though.

Link's expression had frozen. "Say, Sheik… where is Zelda?" And Sheik realized something – his quarters had never felt off before. Even in Ganondorf's reign they'd remained the same, empty and heartless but never like this. Twisted… the rest of the world could always warp and leave this place the same (horribly alone and the same), so what had felt off about his room… It had been the silence. He knew that, this time, there should have been noise when he'd entered. Shouting, cursing, banging and screaming. A pull in his chest that begged for answers he wouldn't give or didn't dare speak. Yet there were no muffled curses or calls… there were no thuds or crashes from down the hidden path.

He all but leapt from the crate where he'd been in repose, muttering a curse. He slid around Link, "- hey! What is it-?" and pressed the switch into the wall so the pathway opened. In his haste the floor-tile switch inside was left forgotten; that is, the one that would close the path behind him… Link's footfalls echoed in the empty hall at his heels, but Sheik's vision had burned down to the doorway at the end. When he reached it he banged on the door, shouted for his light, but there was no answer.

And his swift fingers flew over the locks, and his hand hit the doorknob, but even then he knew, and from the hitch of his breath Link had realized something too… Sheik knew that somehow, the imposter in the princess's body had escaped without his notice.

The door creaked open, the room empty and so lonely… Another failure to add onto his tab, he supposed.

* * *

Link looked around the room sadly; chains edged the walls, a bucket in one corner to pass as a chamber pot. The place had plenty of torches, easy to brighten to near-blinding levels. And yet it was attached to quarters Sheik had said were only given to sheikah who guarded the royalty… Sheik's room. He knew the shadow folk preferred darkness, he wasn't lacking wits. He also knew if Sheik hadn't been so preoocupied, he would never have seen this place at all. _It's so cold here._

"… I really wish that you'd never had to go through any of it, but… it can't be undone." _Because I can't change the world like that anymore. _Link gave a heavy sigh, not looking at his friend. He really wished he could change it.

Sheik jolted.

"And beyond that I wish… that I just knew everything that happened. I just want to know _every_ time something horrible happened. I'm tired of these surprises." He muttered the last words, and Sheik followed his dejected gaze to the shackles on the wall. The hylian hadn't even noticed the reinforcements on the door, Sheik figured. Or… he didn't see the dimensions of the room Sheik was in front of, didn't know what it was for. A room to lock up…

Well, Sheik was the only one who would be locked there anymore.

Link looked back to him with the sharp sad gaze that would break his heart, and Sheik pushed down his waves of self-loathing. He had to fix this, too… One of his hands came up to brush over Link's forehead. "I don't want you to know, though. In any case… I was never locked away here. You shouldn't worry about it." However, he didn't think he could smile just then. Even for Link.

"He still threatened you." The accusation wasn't really aimed at Sheik, but it hit him anyway. So he didn't answer, agree or deny, he just closed his eyes.

The world seemed different without sight, and in his short escape from the hurt look on Link's face – hurting for _him, _could you even imagine? – he noticed something he hadn't before. In the closet where he'd locked the worthless light, there were traces of shadows. They lingered on the edge of his mind, laughing at him; and… he knew the owner of this power…

"Your darkness was here." He realized, and his eyes flicked back open to meet Link's. They'd gone from hurt to surprise. "I didn't think to ask earlier –" Which was an incredibly regrettable lapse of judgment, Sheik realized now, "- but what would he want in the castle?"

"I don't know." Link muttered, and his eyes were sharp with when he turned his head to completely lock gazes with Sheik. "But we're going to find out."

* * *

_Six hours one minute…_

The world was painted in pastel hues… the air was soft on her face, the sky was beautiful. Verdant green walls of a garden loomed around her. And… her father was smiling at her, a little bit away while somewhere behind her, someone was singing. In a sweet high voice, the prelude of light… as Zelda moved through the garden to her loved one's side they moved on to the minuet of forest, then the bolero of fire… all in that sweet high voice, wordless and reaching like the notes of a lyre. Her father was laughing, and her mother – the image of her face a little blurry – came out of a rose garden that belonged in a fairytale to wave at them, and beckon them ever closer. The singing changed its direction so it was in the garden, the voice ringing clear in the sweet air. The garden smelled of roses and her mother's perfume, and a little soapy from a vine of moonflowers on a trellis… The song changed again, and at some point the song had shifted through the serenade of water… and onto the deep and dreary tune of the nocturne of shadow. The notes dropped accordingly, and as she slipped through the garden and around her mother's skirts she saw Sheik, leaning back and crying the song to the empty sky and the not-so far off moon.

Griselda laughed behind her, and she heard her father call out for them. _All_ of them… Sheik smiled at her – a real, sweet smile, and told her she'd wake up soon.

"So please enjoy the garden."

_Two hours fifty five minutes…_

* * *

All over the castle and still no sign of them. Either of them. Link was about ready to join Sheik in hissing swears, really. For hours they'd been diving through every nook and hidden hall, each room and spare quarters, and it was rapidly approaching dawn with still no luck in their search. Link outright snarled when something shifted at the corner of his vision, so irate was he.

The noblewoman drew back, her eyebrows rising up to her hairline. "… Morning training, Sheik?" Midna wondered, eyeing the sheikah whom she'd deemed as sane (if only because this was a regular occurrence with him, whereas she was quite certain Link didn't normally adopt the tones of an animal to communicate).

"… Of course, Midna." Sheik managed a smile that didn't look _completely_ like he was caught ripping the heads off puppies. (It was still pretty creepy, though, and Midna knew creepy. She lived with Zant). "You'll have to excuse him, though; he's simply not a morning person." He gestured towards Link, who was giving a very venomous stare to the hallway in front of them. The very _empty_ hallway, which was so empty because it was the wee hours of the morning or the latest hours of night, the answer dependant on who was asked. Link certainly wasn't acting as a hylian should have been.

"… alright." Midna said slowly. "Well, you may want to postpone your session. About ten minutes ago I saw the princess heading toward your quarters with a man in black in tow. She seemed quite hurried; she was all but dragging the poor thing."

Sheik barely kept himself in check. (Link didn't bother; he took off down the hall with only a vague idea of where to go) "Really now…?" He began, making a very tangible effort to not sound like he desperately wanted to leave (which he did. Running at full pelt would be ideal, actually), "Thank you, Midna. Please have a pleasant morning." He emphasized the 'pleasant' and managed a very short, even quicker bow, and then swept off into the dark. Midna watched him go silently. If she sensed the man behind her in the shadows, staring out with wide eyes, she made no indication.

… However, the barest hint of a smile curled her lips when those same shadows shifted, and ripped apart.

* * *

_Tick, tock, tick, tock…_

Shadow caster smiled at the ceiling, a little wistful as he counted down the seconds. "Come here a moment, won't you?" He asked Dark Link, who was looking around the quarters with tangible unease. The shadow shifted and only hesitated a moment, before he was at the light being's side.

The lips that weren't quite the queen's curled up, and Shadow caster put one hand behind Dark Link's head and drew him in for a kiss.

He felt the hero's shade tense, just before the sound of living beings appeared on the edges of his senses…

_Less than a minute. _

"Get out of here." The words had barely been uttered when Dark Link disappeared, and the door cracked open a moment later. The wistful smile Shadow caster had worn became a wicked smirk when his eyes focused on the entryway. "Mon obscurité." He greeted again, or maybe it was a farewell… not that Sheik would know the difference himself.

Link came up behind Sheik in the doorway, blue eyes narrowed and expression tense. It was cute, the light one reflected from where he lay.

"You really should know better." Shadow caster laughed softly before closing his eyes. His hands came up to clasp on his chest, and with the way he'd stretched out on Sheik's bed it seemed as though he were just falling into a very deep sleep. His grinning lips parted again, "Zero."

* * *

**(Chapter 11 end)**


	12. Red wine and good times

Holy crap this is late-! So sorry, everyone, I got a bit of writers block all through winter break! What a pain~ agh, I ended up starting a new story (a Majora/Kafei because… why not?) and only worked on Interwoven yesterday. In here I had this ONE scene giving me trouble, but then I had a blast of inspiration yesterday (the 30th) and then Sheik and I had some fun today, so NOW we're getting somewhere. Yes!

**Review responses:**

Ryttu3k: That makes me very happy to hear *laughing* Awkward? Never.

Sunnepho: Dark Link's personality is too interesting to not explore. It's a waste to leave him flat and evil, like leaving fresh fruit to rot. (My muse just informed me how insane that sounded. I'm ignoring him.)

Trolly's Bara-chan: AHAHAHA.

Happy new years, people!

* * *

**Chapter 12: Red wine and good times (Canaries)**

* * *

When Zelda awoke, she did so feeling as if it had been the best slumber she'd had in years… though she didn't remember laying down to fall to dreaming. She remembered settling back in her study, and a crashing wave of sorrow had swallowed her…

She remembered someone like Sheik smiling at her, passing a hand over her face and telling her to rest, that he would take care of everything. And then… she was in the fairytale garden with her family and the sweet singing voice. Even as she woke and her heart clenched at the remembrance – _father is dead_ – she recalled his smiling visage. He was with her mother now.

Sheik and Link were gasping, frantic and sweet and fussing over her, asking her if she was alright and did she hurt anywhere? Which she really couldn't understand, but her boys were silly sometimes. She sat up to tell them that and noticed for the first time that there was something in her hands. In her clasped fingers there was a crumpled letter, addressed only to Sheik. Zelda gave it to him then, curious though she was, because it was his and he could share it if he wished but otherwise it would stay his secret…

Sheik took it with narrowed eyes and retreated a few steps. Zelda got the sense he wasn't expecting it.

Link smiled a little tentatively at her, and she asked him the time. "… something like… five hours past the witching hour." Link replied, blinking with a smile more sweet now.

… She really _had_ gone to sleep.

* * *

_You should know better than to try and trap yourself, my cast shadow._

_Quite obviously, if you're reading this, you were too slow for me to tell you in person. To be honest, I figured you would be. This was my countermeasure. _

_The one you are looking for, the one who uses shadows, can pass as anything else. He's a brilliant actor about to put on a show, and he will become the best masquerader the kingdom should ever see. I hope you're ready. _

_The pretty shadow might help you if you ask him nicely…_

_Truthfully, the only reason I caught him was that he was looking for his light. He can't seem to find the tome, which really is a pity; inside it tells where to find a reflection. _

_What good is a book when it's too dark to read it, anyway?_

_But still, I know where it is. _

_Remember, sheikah, birds live in trees._

_- Nameless_

* * *

"_Drip drop drip drop… and the singing birds they never sung, the evening _

_rain was never done… drip drop drip drop…"_

Midna sung softly, pressing open her chamber doors. The sun wouldn't be up for a few more hours but she'd gotten a lot done, and she was still tired from waking so early for the crowning. By now the young queen was herself again, somewhere in the heart of the castle, most likely with her guard dog and her puppy showering her with concerns and affection.

She changed to her sleeping clothes, silent and thoughtful as she gazed at the heavy wood of the shut door. Sleeping was best, Midna thought, because something was coming and she'd need all her rest. She didn't want to miss it.

* * *

_Five hours… past…What on earth?_

"Then you two should be in bed." Zelda announced, looking quite horrified. She promptly hopped off of Sheik's bed. "What am I even doing here?" Was her next demand, before she shook her head and realised that Link _still was not sleeping. _So she coaxed and urged him until the poor confused young man was laying on Sheik's bed where she had been, watching Zelda clutch her head and try to figure out what the hell was going on. "-can't even believe that would happen, I mean really, to doze off-"

Sheik looked up, saw Link in his bed, and choked.

"- and why bring me back here? I am perfectly fine with being woken and sent to my own room and – Sheik." Zelda turned a dark look to him. Sheik, a little more red than usual, turned to her.

"… yes?" He managed, looking faintly worried.

"Why am I in here?"

"… oh, that." Sheik muttered, sounding _relieved _for some reason Link couldn't fathom. "Another consciousness took over your body without discernable cause and wrecked havoc for the past few hours, before running in here, laying down on my bed and relinquishing their control."

… For a few moments, everyone just sort of stared. Sheik was staring because he was perfectly serious and wanted to express that fact. Zelda and Link were staring at him as though they thought he was a lunatic. Zelda personally because no sane person would spit out something like that, and Link because 'why on the goddesses' green earth would you explain it to her that way?' so Sheik was looking pretty satisfied with himself right then.

"… right. And I suppose you're also going to tell me the sheikah used to ride unicorns." Was what the pretty young queen retorted, all dry stares and exasperation.

"Oh, they did. Our people rode unicorns into war for generations." Solemn in voice, Sheik nodded to verify the great truth of these words.

Zelda wasn't buying it.

She snorted before she walked over and punched him on the arm. "I see. I'm returning to my quarters. Please visit when you are ready to give me the _actual_ details of what happened." Ouch. Sheik continued to look amused – er, solemn. (Bullshit. Link could see his lips threatening to curl.) "Get some sleep, dear brother."

Link watched – shocked and happy – as Sheik's eyes softened, and his lips pulled up in a smile, before he patted the queen on her head like a child. "… The same to you," He began, soft and kind and affectionate… "Brat sibling."

Zelda punched him again.

* * *

"_Sleep well, little queen. I'll rip apart anyone who comes in the night."_

* * *

He wasn't really sure how this happened, but he wasn't sure he wanted to find out either. That might very well ruin it. Actually… no, Link did know how this happened. Sheik had always been and would always be quicker than him, and all the danger-sense in the world couldn't save him when a sleep-deprived sheikah decided it _was_ time to rest.

So he was there, drowsy and pinned under what was either a genuinely-asleep Sheik, or a skilled actor in the realm of pretending to not be aware. And he would've been happily oblivious to all the implications of this except that it was Sheik, and Malon had given him that talk that time and now… Link resisted the urge to shake his head, but instead shut his eyes and shifted a little, trying to coax Sheik into loosening his grip enough that Link could at least yank up the covers because it was getting chilly. That barely achieved he laid his head back down on the pillow, shut his eyes, and prayed to anyone who would listen that the next day they wouldn't have a horribly embarrassing moment because of rampant hormones.

Sheik stayed behind him, arms draped about Link with a steel grip, happily somnolent and oblivious.

* * *

The world was brown soil. When he looked up he could see they were in a dome of stone beneath the sky, and the stars seemed so far away.

Strange shadows were thrown across the ground, crawling around him like spiders, their silhouettes by a fire. They were all watching him, and though he couldn't quite see details he made out the arching tail of a fox and a devil's wings fluttering gently, and a man with his arms crossed over his chest. Iblis materialized from the gloom, from absolutely nothing, canting his head to look at Link and murmuring an apology for pulling him from his dreams.

Link could still feel the eyes of the other ones on him, silent and sharp and hinted with predatory threat…

"Have you found the one who would burn away the darkness?" Iblis asked him, red eyes focused only on Link. He was the size of a hylian again, and Link felt his heart clench as he shook his head. "Misplaced ire will rip it apart…" Iblis murmured, troubled and faint with eyes that were almost begging for Link to find some way, and he felt sick again. "Please protect them- use the amulet to call for help, if there is anyway-," His eyes widened, just as one of the strange shadows - or were they the silhouettes, Link wasn't certain - interrupted the god, "You're out of time."

And Link gasped as he was caught by twisting grasping shadows, away from the dome of earth and the wide-eyed Iblis, the far-off scattered stars and the lonely moon in the center of the sky… deep into the darkness where even time was swallowed, and he kept falling…

He looked down at the writhing shadows that crawled over his skin, more fascinated than afraid, even though by all logic they were dragging him into the nightmare world of hell. As he watched the dark become thorns then claws then fingers, and one of those hands came to slip his eyes shut.

* * *

"_Hehehe… your time is up. Oh, well…" and the world was shattered under the crashing moon. _

* * *

Link yawned, stretching his arms over his head. He'd been dreaming about that damnable moon again last night.

"There's some tea brewing." Someone called to him from across the fire, and he shook himself awake, just a little bit surprised.

Tea was an import item, and a particularly expensive luxury. Usually only nobles could afford it, but Kakariko was in the southern border of the territory it was imported from – and some less common plants grew right outside the town, waiting to be brewed into drink.

That must have been what they were drinking, because there was certainly no way they had the money for the tea. He began to fold up his blanket, glancing up at the treetops and the little bits of sunlight that shattered the darkness around them from the canopy of leaves.

That they didn't have the money… Link found that a little funny, because two hundred rupees was nothing. "Set me down in Zora's river," he'd once told his friend, "I'll come out with it in half an hour."

The Zora, excepting perhaps the shopkeeper – _perhaps_ - held no value for rupees. They threw them in the river for fun. When asked, they'd reply that they were just pretty stones – decorative, no harm done if a few disappeared and after all, the hylians who went to the lakes and rivers would just end up dropping more rupees, and Link knew about those, too – that the Zora could bring back. The shiniest rupees were the only ones they bothered keeping close; the glassy purple and shimmering gold.

Tea sounded good. "What kind?" He asked tiredly, rubbing his eyes with half-balled fists. He heard a chuckle.

"The kind that wakes you up. Dreaming about that place again?

He mumbled an affirmative.

"What happened?"

"Got eaten by the moon." He admitted, standing and moving away from the tree he'd slept under into the clearing, where a small fire crackled, happy and warm. The older man gave him a half-sad smile, though he looked like he wanted to laugh.

"I wish I'd been with you. Whenever you talk about it, I wonder… ah. Well, come drink something, alright?" He poured a little from the kettle he carried into a stone cup that he handed to Link.

Link brought it to his lips, blew on the surface, and sipped. It tasted like plants and honey, and the smell cleared his head. He settled down beside the fire, shifting a moment to get comfortable before glancing to his friend. He opened his mouth to say something…

"Where are we going, again?" Navi asked in a tired voice, flitting into sight from behind a tree. Link shut his mouth

"If we keep heading north, we'll arrive at the Demon gate."

"What's past that?" He wondered instead of what he was going to say before, drinking the rest of his tea in one gulp. That earned him an exasperated look.

"The dark realm. Former sheikah and Twili inhabit it, as well as monsters. There are a few light beings residing there as well, although I believe most of them congregated here to mirror the sheikah's entrance to their realm." He listed off almost-dryly, canting his head at Link. "I really wish you wouldn't guzzle it like that. It's meant to be tasted." He added, gesturing to the cup.

"I tasted it fine," Link protested, leaning towards him to argue. "It was good. So good I wanted to drink it quickly."

Blue flashed around their heads in dizzying circles. "That sounds interesting." Navi interjected, trying to steer the conversation back on course. Link stopped his arguing to follow the blur of color with his gaze.

"I guess…" _As long as nothing will grab me there. _

"To the world of night we go, then."

* * *

The dream was hazy after that. Link remembered screaming, as the other him, because bordering the dark world was a wasteland filled with graves. A deadhand had burst from the desecrated soil, wrapping its slimy fingers about him, and he had screamed. His heart had been beating so fast, like a hummingbird trying to fly from his throat or maybe rip out of his chest, and the gaping maw and too-dull teeth had come snapping towards his head while the bloated corpse waded through swirling soil towards his trembling trapped body…

He woke up still sobbing with fear and shaking.

Sheik, across the room with a comb in hand was staring at him, and after a scant moment, a literal heartbeat, he was at Link's side and coaxing him into sitting up, and then there were arms around him… as Link clung on he was thankful, not for the first or last time, that Sheik eschewed social norms like the ones that would have had him leave when he saw Link's tears.

"What happened?" He demanded, sharp and alive and very much solid, and Link shuddered.

"… deadhand…" His own voice came out breathy and terrified, and a little bit of shame began to burn in his belly. Farore's chosen hero, the keeper of courage… if only the kingdom could see him now. Ganondorf would have laughed.

Sheik's eyes widened, startling gem-bright red after the muted colors of the borderlands in Link's nightmare, and he clicked his tongue before tucking his head against the hylian's.

"Deadhand?" He muttered sounding a touch stupefied, while he cradled the younger man. "… I'm sorry…" Was added in an even softer voice, eyes flitting shut while he remembered Link, descending into darkness and he only watching from the sidelines…while the poor hero was beaten and torn and terrified… _Link wasn't so much their hero as their sacrifice. Shattered and battered Link was a canary. Sheik had realized that and bitten his lip 'til it bled, closed his eyes to try to block out the screaming. It didn't. _

And then there were those times where he hadn't been there at all, because he had to report to Ganondorf or hide the Lady again…

"I'm so, so sorry, Link…" He shook his head again the trembling one beneath his, and they stayed like that. Link kept shivering and shuddering, and he might've been crying – with noises as well as tears - at the start, but neither of them was certain, or really wanted to be.

Sometime later, when the shudders had finally ceased and Link had steadied his trembling, stuttering breath, he still stayed tucked against Sheik, and though he'd just woken he was quite thoroughly drained. Sheik had shut his eyes and rested his chin on the crown of the broken-down youth – Link wasn't a hero, Link was barely an adult at all - lost in memories and tangibly morose. "I'm sorry," He muttered again. Link pressed one hand against his chest then so Sheik let him go, and once they had enough space between them Link gave him a befuddled stare.

"Why are you apologizing?" He demanded, soft and incredulous. Sheik wilted.

"I… never should have let you go through the Shadow temple alone…" he admitted, closing his eyes to ward off the pain. That failed him, sadly, because images of a bloodied and stricken Link filled up his mind. Red eyes slid open again; a breathing hero was easier to gaze upon than the imaginings of a dead one that came after…

"It wasn't in the shadow temple," Link replied quizzically, half-narrowed eyes searching Sheik's. "I mean, there was one in there, but the one in my dream was… in a graveyard…"

"Not Kakariko's," Sheik began carefully, half-nervous and Link shook his head.

"No. Someplace else. I remember round walls that welcomed the sky…" He sighed. "Maybe that sounds strange."

"It was just a dream." Sheik said, as though that explained everything. And really it did. Link smiled.

"Yeah…. Thank you, Sheik." He leaned in and bumped his forehead against the snorting sheikah's.

"For what?"

"I needed a hug." Link answered cheerfully, his forehead still gently resting against Sheik's. The red eye he could see widened, and Sheik canted his head a bit…

"Sheik! Are you awake?" And the moment was shattered. Sheik jumped back and shouted yes, Link rolled off the bed and began trying to straighten out his hair because it was a right mess, and Zelda asked that they meet her in the dining hall in half an hour. The sense that he'd lost something lingered around Link's mind for a while, but he couldn't quite decide what. Sheik trailed just behind him, lost in his own memories…

His eyes had turned cold again. His skin was still pale and around his eyes discolored and dark, and Link remembered he still hadn't been sleeping.

* * *

_About four hours before…_

Morning light streamed in through the ceiling windows. Sheik grumbled and yawned, shifting and trying to decide whether or not he _really _wanted to move. He was very comfortable, warm and curled up with something to his chest… wait. His eyes cracked open a second and perceived blond.

… Ah. Link had really let him go to sleep like that… he'd thought it was a hallucination of too _little_ sleep. Oh well. This was the first time he'd even gotten to drift off since… at least, since they had returned from Death Mountain. He smiled and tucked his head back down, curling a little tighter around the hero, and considered going back to the world of dreams. Goddesses above and god below knew when he would get a good rest again.

Damn, when he was fully awake he'd realize the implications of sleeping curled around his friend like that, and he would just curl _up_ and die. But right now all he was aware of about it was how warm Link was, and how harmless it seemed to cradle him, and that the gauntleted hand that rested on his arm said that at least in dreams Link didn't mind. Gauntleted…? Oh, he'd never taken off his gear, had he…?

"Silly hero." Sheik muttered into his ear and a few minutes later, breathy and foggy with sleep, Link muttered,

"Don't call me that." back. Well, Sheik figured that was what he was saying. He'd all but muttered it into the pillow.

"Alright Link." He whispered back, and was reward with a little shift – _is he waking up? –_ and a content sigh.

It took another half hour of dozing before he forced himself from the bed.

From there, it only took two minutes to turn around, see Link, and realize what it looked like. _Oh fu-_

* * *

Morning light streamed in through the windows, casting soft shadows. His eyes blinked open after a moment's hesitation, and the room swam into focus with the soft cool hues of an autumn morning. There was a shadow at the corner of his gaze when he rolled over, blinking into wakefulness. The shadow – perched beside his bed on a small table – canted its head.

"Good morning." He murmured to it with a faint smile, climbing out of the bed and bringing up one hand to cover his mouth as he yawned. Again the shadow shifted, apparently deciding what to reply, or whether or not it should at all.

"… good morning." Was the shadow's answer, only given after he'd begun to dress, in a voice soft and contemplative. "Hell… what is good about this morning?" Curious rather than spiteful, and very gentle.

Hell smiled. "What isn't? It's a lovely, beautiful morning, and it doesn't need any more reason than that to be good."

"… I see… thank you." The shadow muttered and shook his head. "It is a good morning." The shadow said faintly, leaning back into the darkness to close his dead eyes. One hand came up to brush over them. "I wish I could see it."

Hell paused a moment, a frown stealing over his lips before he was at the side of the table.

"I'm sorry," He murmured faintly, putting his hand over the shadow's. "… perhaps, if you saw a healer here…" he began softly, almost-hopeful but the dark one would shatter that.

He shook his head. "It wouldn't change. Please forgive me." Was added faintly, while Hell sighed.

"… One of _them_ did it, didn't they?" He demanded in a tart voice, curling his hand around the dark one's and pulling away it away, so it no longer hid the shadow's eyes. They stayed shut. "Answer me Schwarz."

"No. Not one of them." _… I deserve it… _

Hell frowned, and when he spoke again it was obvious he didn't believe it at all, no matter the words. "I don't want to fight with you." There was no reason to continue the argument. "It is a beautiful day. I don't want to spoil it by fighting with my friend." His hand came up and touched Schwarz's cheek, and the shadow's breath hitched. "But please remember that I know dark magic when I see it." He closed his eyes a moment, took a breath, and began to turn away.

"Hell…" Schwarz started then shook his head, sighing and catching the duke's hand. "I need to request leave, sir." He changed his voice to a formal tone.

"Now?" The duke frowned, canting his head. Schwarz nodded. "Well… I suppose it will be fine. Just promise me you'll go to see one of those healers?"

"… sir…"

"Schwarz." He began again, with pleading eyes that the darkness couldn't see and a very insistent tone to compensate. Schwarz deflated, still holding his hand in a gentle grip.

"Yes sir." He said faintly, and brought the hand to his lips. Pressing a kiss to the back, he let a small, dull smile slip onto his lips before he slipped off the table.

He moved for the doorway and hesitated, then turned back a moment. "… I love you, sir."

"I know." Hell returned immediately, expression quizzical. A slightly disbelieving smile, almost sad, stole Schwarz's expression and he nodded once before slipping away. As the door clicked shut, Hell sat on the edge of his bed and watched the wood as though it had answers for him. It didn't.

* * *

_Present time_

* * *

_They're here._

Her ears perked up and when she turned, Sheik and Link were weaving through the scattered servants and nobles toward her. Well… Sheik was weaving and more or less had Link tucked into his side while he glared at people. Poor Link looked rather pale.

_What the…? _Barely biting back a frown – _is there someone I need to maim?_ – she gathered her skirts and hurried over, and they met in the middle. She plucked off one glove to touch Link's forehead and cocked her head, while he stared at her like she was a lime green deku baba. Her gaze switched to Sheik. "No fever?" She demanded, and then really _seeing _Sheik for the first time this morning she softened a little. He looked like hell, too, but it was just in his eyes. "… are you alright, Link?" Zelda settled on instead of interrogating her dear double, meeting cold blue with troubled.

"… Bad memories. You know how it goes." And he smiled, patting her on the shoulder, and that was that. She knew how stubborn he could be. "So. What did you need?"

… And, well, alright. She did know all about that. And the best cure was warm food and friends on a sunny day. So she grinned back at him. "Breakfast. We're eating it."

"It's twelve in the afternoon." Sheik cut in, sounding scandalized. The short people he surrounded himself with just kept grinning at him.

… And so, minutes later they had sat down and eaten their eggs, which Sheik looked at like they had wronged him – _"Oh, lighten up and live a little!" –flat- "You can't make me."_ – and were now chatting about this and that, anything that flew to mind. Idleness and things that didn't matter were the flavors of the day, as even poor things such as those had their place once and a while.

"Midna was talking about going to town tonight, you know. I know you're going to stalk us, Sheik, but it's a girl's night so please try not to go too crazy?" Zelda asked him with an exasperated tone and fond smile, and Sheik smirked.

"I'll think about it." He drawled, bringing his fingers up to form a pyramid in front of him like he was plotting the downfall of their evening. And he probably was. Zelda switched an imploring gaze to Link.

"Occupy him for me?" She begged. Link snorted into his water and bit down a grin.

"Ahh… and how would I do that?" He asked, very wry. Zelda opened her mouth to respond - and he got the feeling that she was about to say something horribly lewd and unbefitting of a queen - when a bird landed on the table in front of Sheik.

Everyone passed long enough to stare at it. Sheik retrieved a letter from its leg but didn't start reading just yet, because he'd just seen a flash of white at the corner of his vision… Hell appeared, talking quietly to a servant. His usual shadow was absent, Sheik noted, the one that drifted far behind him in crowds. The servant left and he turned towards their table, and caught Zelda's eye as he did. In another moment she'd waved him over. The Lady picked up a previously closed bottle another servant had brought her minutes ago.

"Care for a drink?" She asked him, just as she'd asked the both of them minutes ago on its arrival. Link had no stomach for wine, and Sheik simply didn't drink. (Not anymore.) Hell smiled and accepted quite politely, though he glanced at Sheik, somewhere between uneasy and questioning.

"I… have to go." Sheik announced in a fairly calm voice, though to Zelda instead of the duke he didn't play well with or the hylian in green who was eyeing him in curiosity, because Sheik had read the note and… well, he ignored the look he was given. Link scooted away from his spot while Sheik stood up – _what, so you don't have to be too close to the newcomer? _Sheik found himself wondering, more wry than anything else _– _and he walked from the dining hall without another word spoken. Hell settled down, Zelda called for glasses, and Link turned his gaze from the exeunt sheikah and servants to their more surprising guest. The bird – Link realized it was a falcon – took a moment to glance between he and the young queen before it too took off, flying out a high window so it was again free in the bright autumn skies of Hyrule.

The servants were slow retrieving the glasses.

* * *

"_Drip drop drip drop…_

The singing birds they never sung, the evening rain was never done… the lonely king had lost his head, the lovely queen was halfway dead_… drip drop drip drop…_

The lonely rains they shall go on, dancing on the heads… the soft pitter-patter of rain, covering up the cries of the dead…" He turned another corner, and listened to the voice draw closer, "and the lovely songs that were never sung… the pretty birds fell from the sky and the rain went on though that day it cried_… drip drop drip drop…"_

In the north, people made a living inside of mountains like the goron. There were sweet little songbirds they would take inside to sing for them. It wasn't because they loved the music, though Sheik supposed they did. The pretty little birds were in tune with the world, more than the humans could or should wish to be… If they entered into a dangerous place, the bird would stop singing and the humans would leave.

Of course, that was something adults came up with to tell children.

If the bird stopped singing, it had died.

Some terribly morbid bard had written a song about a falling kingdom, and had somehow worked in the poor canaries, and Sheik remembered again that Hyrule had its own songbird to send singing into darkness. Or perhaps he had been Link's canary. The memory's meaning blurred.

And… Sheik wondered why they had written such a song in the first place.

He could hear the words now, soft echoes in the corridor.

"… was it broken wings and shiny things? No, the birds had come undone, beaten and unraveled with nowhere to run… Oh, their wings torn cleanly off by the blood-dark hands of the burdened, the sinner, the child of the sun… who was left to cry for the little birds and the lost king? Not one… the tears of the fallen they fill up the sky, and crash down as rain that drowns out the sorrowful sigh, the whispers of the battered world left to ruin…"

It really seemed like such a waste, all the little bodies of the birds piling up… they were sent to Iblis with prayers like high warriors, given lovely funerals because they kept the miners safe and died protecting their tribe…

It wasn't really fair to the broken birds, but the humans really were grateful, and they really did love them.

And as he'd mentioned before, Sheik had the terrifying thought… that Link had been the country's canary… and really he had been, but Link had never stopped singing. He just hadn't ended up as another body turned into alms for the birds, a shattered shell with its soul passed on.

Sheik didn't want anything like that to ever happen again. Zelda had said something to him, about Link and caring more than he had ever… but he tried not to remember, because he already knew that truth, and he already knew why it should never appear in reality. He was going to protect the protector, and that was all anyone could ever know on the subject. He wouldn't tolerate it.

He turned another corner and Midna came into view, tucked into darkness and singing softly. She looked like she had just woken – her hair was still perfectly neat, her makeup unsmeared, and her eyes at the moment weren't quite open. "Good morning, Sheik." She murmured, sounding peaceful and almost-content – a true rarity - just as a servant scurried around the corner.

"Sir, about the new wine-" He began in a harried tone, towards _Sheik_ of all people.

"In a moment," He interrupted, bringing up one hand to indicate silence. Red eyes flickered back to Midna. "Why did you send for me?" Was his demand, eyes narrowed more in curiosity than threat but he was a little irritated, and that showed clear as day. And for a moment, Midna looked honestly confused.

"Sent for you? I didn't-" She began, just a loud_ bang _reverberated through the corridor, and the servant dropped whatever they'd been holding to scurry away with a shout of surprise. It had been a glass of wine, now shattered. Without really thinking about it Sheik snatched up a piece, examining the shard even though he knew he should've been running. The red drink still clung to the edges, and there was a certain scent… his fingers brushed over it and found the feeling of a film.

Sheik's eye widened and another explosion rocked the corridor.

* * *

"Go check it out! _**Now!**_" He shouted over his shoulder to the startled Twili queen, legs already begging to run full-tilt and mind not far behind them. _Damn damn damn-! _He knew better, he should always know better, what on earth was going so monumentally wrong – _I can't do this, I can't, damn_ – but whether or not he could he was going to, because he didn't have a choice, and he wasn't voiceless, and he wouldn't fall down and fail again because that wasn't him and he wouldn't let it be. He spun around a corner and weaved through another throng of curious servants, jostled a few – he could hear their shouts behind him, but he had bigger things – and, gasping and far too late after he'd started he arrived at the dining hall door and slammed the doors wide open. **BANG **went the too-abused wood,and he ran inside without another thought, skidding through the place and startling everyone inside even worse than the still-echoing sound of the doors. Zelda put down the bottle in her hands and stood up at the table, Link _jumped_ up and looked like he was trying to figure out what was wrong and how he could go about killing it. Hell sat there, confused and threatened-looking, still innocently holding a glass of wine to his chest. None of the goblets had touched their lips yet, no droplets clung to the edges of glass.

"What is going on?" Zelda demanded, entirely authoritative, very much expecting an answer. And Sheik turned grim eyes on her. No one was eating or drinking now… No one was doing anything. Perfect. Just… perfect.

"Where exactly was that wine imported from, my Lady?" Sheik managed in a panting tone, sounding more like a feral dog than her friend as he did. Zelda took a step back and shook her head. "What? It came from here, Sheik… The winemakers imported ingredients from Tot and…"

"And Weiss." The duke added softly, eyes wide. "Why is that an issue?"

For whatever reason – his obliviousness, the fact that it was _his servant _who'd murdered the king, or simply because Sheik had never liked the man and never would – he lost his patience then. He took two steps forward – Link twitched, Zelda started forward, Hell jumped - to snatch Hell's glass, and held it up for everyone in the hall to see. "This," He announced, looking around the room to make sure everyone was listening, before he tossed the glass to the ground. It shattered in a spray of delicate glass and red droplets. "is poison." His eyes trained on the stone tile, watching the drink run down into the cracks. "Just the same as the others'."

Hell watched the red drain down too, eyes wide and heart hammering.

"How do you know?" He asked, shaky and sickly-pale. Sheik narrowed his eyes. _Showtime. I'll put on a show for _you_, Schwarz. And of course my light…you'll tell me if it's better. _He cast a hand toward the ground, looking not just at Hell but at all the nobles and servants, slowly turning to survey their stricken faces. For just a moment his eye caught on Link, and his heart skipped a beat. _I'm sorry._

"Because, he has killed before." He said to everyone at large, "The prisoner who escaped and whose corpse was found in the trees at the edge of the grounds had red wine on his lips. He died the same way as the last victim."

'_Last victim?_' that echoed around him, through the whole hall like a chilling welcome, in a tone more suited for a eulogy in darkness. And all the startled, and growing fearful, and _angry_ pairs of eyes were set upon him, but he wanted to say sorry to just one more of them. He couldn't, he knew that, but it hurt… in truth he couldn't even look at them now. It could reveal too much.

_Zelda_… _I'm so sorry._ "Yes," He called, "It was kept quiet so as not upset the castle; the duchess Asima is dead!"

* * *

**(End chapter)**

**Notes: Sheik is crazy. And damn, but I love him…**


	13. Of course, of course

**Review responses**

**Samalane: Ah… thank you *embarrassed* Those three are fun, with their weird complicated bonds. I'm glad you're enjoying it! **

**CottonCandyHaze: Okay, so I figured out that no matter how long I think updates will take, they will do what they want. This chapter was finished in 5 days and edited for posting on the 6****th****! *laughs* **

**shugo sora: trust me when I say the story will be ended. (I'm worried if it's not, Trolly's Bara-chan will throw her nice person stuff out the window. Along with me.) **

**Trolly's Bara-chan: you know I was just talking about you…**

**Ryttu3k: you have a dA? *happy noise* I will hunt you down in a few~**

**ALRIGHT! So thanks for reviewing everybody~ I'm really happy right now. Oh yeah, and before I forget- I can't believe how many of you seemed to miss the almost-kiss! *laughs* Was it too subtle?**

* * *

**Chapter 13: Of course, of course… (the Poison and the Proof)**

The castle was in an uproar. Guards marched up and down the corridors constantly, and all the nobles had returned to their rooms. Link had been ushered along with the queen to her chambers, while Sheik had gone off with the head of the castle guard himself.

Of course, Midna and Zelda's evening plans had been cancelled. Midna wasn't very happy about that, or really at all.

Link sighed, settled in Zelda's desk chair. She was sitting on the bed, tossing a coin at the ceiling and looking somewhere between irritated and troubled. "I don't suppose you have any idea what he's up to." Zelda muttered, casting Link a glance. He shook his head no, because he really didn't.

He wondered what bull Sheik was feeding the guards about the body. He wondered if Impa knew anything about any of this.

* * *

A bird landed in the window sill and cried for attention. Impa glanced between Sheik and the head guard before stepping over, delicately removing the paper from the Kargorok's leg. It shrieked at her and flew off again, back north with its side presented to the rising sun…

"What about the body?" The guard demanded of Sheik behind her, while she opened the seal of the letter. It had been addressed to Zelda and her…

"Preparations were being made to have it returned to Tot as soon as possible. It's gotten rather rotten, but you can be escorted to it if you so wish."

"That would be preferable. Please make arrangements for tonight."

"Of course."

Impa was careful to keep listening to them – they'd moved on to the poison and the proof, now – even as she read the message.

_If you're getting this, we have a problem. Please send a sheikah… an outsider cannot pass the guardians. My sincerest apologies for the abrupt and informal nature of my request, but there is little time to be had for it. My best regards, Lady Impa and Majesty. _

_Signed, the Fox and the Maskless_

Red eyes narrowed in contemplation. Again the conversation moved, from poison and interrogation to round-the-clock guards and where the killer had fled.

"I believe he's left the vicinity of the castle." Sheik admitted with a troubled sigh, carding one hand through his bangs.

"And what of the visiting duke? Do you suspect he had any hand in it? It was his servant…"

"Unlikely. He was targeted as well. If he had known, he wouldn't have accepted the wine… I was there, that's how I know." He added in, almost amused at the inquiring look on the older man's face. "If my suspicions are proven true, we must make certain Sir Hell is kept safe." He added, giving a secret smile to the soldier's frown.

"Well… alright. I suppose you'd like to return to our Lady, now."

"Very much so. Thank you, Sir Eagus. Please continue to keep our lady safe."

"The same to you." The burly man said with a nod, and turned to salute the elder sheikah. "Farewell Lady Impa."

"Farewell." She echoed in a strong but almost-absent tone, stepping after Sheik with the rolled up scroll still in her fingers.

She would have to discuss it with Zelda…

The walk to the queen's quarters was over far too quickly, less because of errant wonderings of her thoughts, and more because the chosen room for speaking was very near to the castle's heart. Impa gestured to the guards – they saluted her back, and Sheik stepped forward and knocked. "Zelda?" He called. The door clicked open.

As soon as space permitted Zelda leant out and kissed him with a sigh, shutting her eyes a second. "What on earth is happening?" She wondered, drawing him in by one hand. Impa followed and shut the door behind her. Link had stood up from the chair he'd occupied, one hand still resting on the backrest, giving Sheik a stricken and longing expression. And Impa saw it the way she saw everything, and wondered what exactly he needed Sheik alone for. She only wondered that a moment though – it wouldn't be her business for quite some time, or so she could always hope.

Zelda was demanding to know just _what_ Sheik had been thinking, (and accused him of thinking _nothing at all_) killing off his drag-queen alter-ego like that. He was waiving off her inquiries with all sorts of red tape and 'you don't need to know's', which of course frustrated her further and started a sort of irritant-amusement loop, with Zelda as the annoyed and Sheik as the smug bastard. She wasn't getting anywhere with him for answers, and… Well, while she would like to know too, Impa wouldn't force them. Sheik had his mother's blood running through him clear as day. He knew what he was doing… he had grown into a fine sheikah, more than worthy of carrying their name. Speaking of sheikah of course, roused and reminded her thoughts. She still had to speak to Zelda. She glanced again to the wanting hero, and had an idea. A smile touched on her lips.

"It has been a long day." She began, and three blond heads snapped to her… good. "While it's doubtful he could leave under these circumstances, perhaps you should escort Link to some guest quarters, Sheik?" Her nephew stiffened a moment, eyes flashing in confusion, but he nodded anyway. _My good boy, _she praised in her head and had to bite back a chuckle.

"Yes, ma'am." He returned, inclining his head to her. His eyes turned to Link. "Come."

Impa watched them both leave, before returning her attentions to Zelda. "We've received a letter from the northern territories." She began after the door had clicked shut, tone official and hushed. The footsteps outside did not pause. "I would strongly suggest we send Sheik…"

* * *

Sheik kept an easy pace, watching Link with his peripheral vision. The hylian kept fidgeting, a hurried and worried expression etched across his features. He had almost reached out for Sheik a small handful of times now, and his lips would open as though he wanted to speak, before a guard would pass or cough or salute, and then Link's mouth would click shut again.

Sheik continued guiding him that way, merrily leading the… distracted, perhaps a little worried, and ultimately ignorant Link astray from the guest wing, and down into the forsaken one. Poor, upset Link remained oblivious. Sheik drew out a key and opened a door, gesturing him inside, and waved to a weary looking guard down the way before following. The locked clicked in place behind him.

Link was looking around the room, trying desperately to not seem like he was only focused on one thought. Sheik stepped up to his back without notice.

"What is it?" He asked very quietly, just beside the shell of Link's ear. Link gasped.

His eyes switched to Sheik, wide and so very blue, and of course unnerved. "Sheik… you lied." He mumbled, ear twitching. Sheik stayed where he was, probably far too close, mulling that over. Lied? Well, yes… he did that a lot actually. Honestly, he'd had (more than) his share of dark fun since the dining hall; it was time to get serious.

But… he was still having fun, in his own twisted way. He needed to make up for that horrible moment, when he was worried that they would… well, he'd make Zelda swear off all but water for a while. Link wouldn't drink, he supposed it had been a thoughtless worry. Back to the present… well, teasing Link was just so rewarding.

"Yes. And the only one who knows… is you." Sheik said it so contemplatively, like he was running over what he could do when, in truth, he had already decided. He brought up his left hand to touch Link's where it hung near his hip, while he kept his mouth beside the right ear… Link shuddered, delicious and wonderful underneath his fingers. Sheik would have to be careful about controlling himself.

"Well… what are you doing to do about that?" Link asked him, sounding breathy and helpless and only a touch alarmed, but mainly entranced. And Sheik wondered if he really understood the terrifying reality of this conversation, or if he perhaps just didn't care…

All that running through his thoughts, it was no surprise that he took his time considering his next answer as well. He did it while tracing designs over the back of Link's hand, and breathing quietly through his mouth. He could hear the soft hitch in the hylian's own breath each time he exhaled. Link felt every puff of air.

"I… am not going to do anything." He murmured, slow and smooth and right into the pointed ear, so close his lips almost brushed the shell, and he was rewarded with another shudder, "You're not worth giving up for a lie, Link."

And… that made Link let out a breath – a sigh of relief instead of a gasp Sheik wasn't _quite_ ready to mark with feeling - but didn't slump back like expected. There was moment it seemed like he would, then he stiffened back up and flushed, turning his head away from Sheik. His breathing was still uneven, his expression was frustrated, and for a moment Sheik again considered other things, ones where Link was flushed, opening up to him, enjoying every breath… only for a moment did he let himself imagine that though, before he breathed a sigh and tried to push the tension from his body. It half-succeeded. He took his hand from Link's – for a second paler fingers grasped for his own in what might've been confusion – and then wrapped his arms around the hylian, pulling him closer for a heartbeat and only that long.

"I really am sorry. I shouldn't have involved you at all." He murmured, and of course he pulled back. "Sleep tight." He wished, and he really meant it. Then he slipped out without another word, leaving Link staring at the door.

"… Damn it, Sheik."

* * *

"_The request is aimed at him – they know well enough there are only two sheikah in the castle, and what I do here. In any case, this will allow him to search for our fugitive… and if he doesn't go, it could very well end in tragedy for them…"_

Zelda still hadn't liked it, but Sheik didn't need to be cooped up in the castle and she knew he wouldn't take a day off unless she ordered it (and Link bribed him). In any case, if Impa thought he should go… well, Impa had never led her wrong. Her logic had been sound, her voice strong, her eyes genuine and telling Zelda that she really thought it for the best. Not that Zelda needed proof like that. She trusted Impa so very much… In any case, she had plenty of proficient guards and the elder sheikah herself. And of course, Sheik had Link.

And all this mess, she didn't like it a bit. First the gorons, and then her father, and now this?… well, when it rained, it poured. Of course she knew that. She would never forget. But it had to be done, and her boys would be fine. They had each other to ensure it.

It seemed in this moment… _she_ was the problem. But that didn't matter now, she had to do this. She had been taking things into her own hands since she was twelve years old. She could do this, she would… It was just her quill sliding across the paper, swirling over and over, and it would be done.

Her fingers trembled as she picked up her pen and began writing; a list of supplies to be given, maps and rations…

* * *

_Drip drop drip drop…_

Eyes slid shut in the stone hollow's drear, he remembered one who was left, who was not remembered here… Tanned flesh and bloody eyes in a brooding face, strong hands that could crush the hylian race. His people were gone from the castle but that hadn't always been. Not so long ago, if seventeen years wasn't a lifetime, sheikah still roamed the castle walls…

Impa had told him once, so very long ago, of a woman with skin like sun and hair like gold. She was kind and strong, and chased down to be murdered in cold blood. The sheikah had tried to protect this woman, for reasons unclear, but there was a reason they weren't remembered here… Sheikah did not like to leave a trace. There was a traitor who would have killed another of that line, but they'd been put to death after a final failed try.

Impa said that they would have never, but only in whispers and the fire of her eyes, because she had no proof and her first loyalty had to be to the royal family. But back to the story at hand, the woman with skin of sun and hair like bright gold (though Sheik preferred sand) had run from the manor house burned to ground, into the forest where her screams the trees drowned. The sheikah had failed and the weakened survivors were brought before the king, and because high treason was so great an offense, he didn't even look into it before he put them to rest, callous wooden cradles in the square for their necks and a man in a mask to put them to sleep forever.

Blood stained the ground, the head rolled off into the baying crowd, and the lord of crows wept again for a lost life, but of course Sheik couldn't know about that. What he did know, though, was a terrible truth… Lifetimes of loyalty were worth little in the face of accusation.

Some of the traitors had children, of course. It was inevitable.

They were put to death too.

And all that was just when Sheik was so very young… his only memories were the weathered pages of books, and Impa's soothing whispers on the gloomiest nights when he couldn't shut his eyes without seeing monsters.

Funny how times changed.

The thing about sheikah was, they were good at escaping and not being found. The thing about kings was, if they screwed up they didn't want to world to know.

So, Sheik was thinking… that perhaps Schwarz was out for a little revenge against the duke whose house had petitioned for the death of so many sheikah. The duke had been too young at the time, to petition for their deaths that is, but did it really matter? Revenge wasn't so logical – often the sins of the father… would be passed onto the child's head, but at once it seemed so wrong to blame someone for something they had no control over. Really, it was wrong… he couldn't choose where he was born, or be expected to control their decisions when he himself had been a child. It wasn't right to put sins on someone who hadn't even made the decision to drop the axe on their necks, simply came into power of the office that did later on. So much later… almost fifteen years. Moral or no, though, if this was a shadow out for revenge then it really all clicked – the man was old enough to be one of the supposedly dead children, and it revealed how he knew the passageways… the feeling of darkness that seeped from his skin, the shadows in his gaze.

Following this… Sheik had been wrong, he hadn't lost something in the war (well, most probably not, since finding something new tended to dissuade vengeance), it was just a dull replay of memories for him, a time where he had to watch a little more carefully and wait a while longer. Though... one wonders why he didn't slit their throats then. Beyond that unanswered question (Sheik had theories, the kind vindictive or sadistic minds cooked up) the only thing that didn't add up was the traits, and Sheik would check up on that soon enough. Schwarz's skin was sheikah-dark, but his eyes and hair were black as night and not changing as far as Sheik knew. Then again there was always illusion…

Things that didn't add up, what else was there? Oh. Well… there was one other thing; how he'd come to serve the new head of the family who would have killed his, assuming Schwarz was of sheikah descent. Of course, he could be reading too much into this. Schwarz could be anyone, and Sheik didn't like gambling. But… the more he thought about it, the stronger the bonds got, and he knew he had very good odds. It was hard to not want to roll the die.

* * *

_Tick tock tick tock…_

Link lay in bed that night, giving a very sour look to the ceiling. Sheik was completely crazy, and he didn't know how or why he kept forgetting that. It was something he loved about the damn lunatic, but he really wished he could follow his trains of thought sometimes. (What Link didn't realize, was that Sheik often wished the same for understanding _Link's _unnerving leaps of logic). Sheik was up to something again, something insane, and he was just so happy about it and Link didn't know why. He was twisting up a web of lies and loving every moment of it. The one person that could neatly destroy that web (Link never neatly destroyed anything, but one got the idea) was him, and instead of doing what Link _knew_ (from any time before, from the not-quite guilty words that slipped from Sheik's own lips) he should do, getting rid of the hylian variable and making sure no trace was left, he'd thrown Link for the biggest damn loop he could. 'You're not worth giving up for a lie,' what the hell did that mean? What was a lie worth? In this case Sheik's life… but he didn't really place much value on that, either. Link did, but it wasn't his mind under the magnifying lens. It was that damn lunatic sheikah's. And how was he supposed to help protect Sheik if he was locked away in this room, alone? How was he supposed to if Sheik didn't want him to…?

He sighed and with it just deflated, entirely. He was a morose lump of green on the bed. He heard the whispering of spirits and a rush of wind like the shadow temple, but he didn't look up, because he'd realized some time ago where he was. He wondered if Sheik did it because it would keep him safe… or because he wanted to lead him to madness? Hylians couldn't take so many voices in their ears… without the eyes to see he would follow the lanterns of lampade and poes, thoughtless, to ruination. Though he'd never seen a lampade before, so there was that. It could be interesting.

Something shifted and a face came into his vision, peering at him with red eyes set wide in a child's face. Funny. She looked a bit older than the other night.

"Can you hear me yet?" She whispered. Link's lips quirked in a smile.

* * *

"You'll leave within the week."

"Of course. Thank you, Impa."

* * *

Well… she'd done it. She'd signed the papers and would send them where they needed to be in the morning. Impa had set a rough timeframe for her. She supposed it was about nine at night and lay down in her bed to sleep.

Her consciousness drifted away slowly…

* * *

The world was white… when her eyes adjusted it was still very light, all pastels, golds and yellows and creams. They all seemed to be glowing… Sheik was sitting in the middle, but when he turned to smile at her she realized something was off, that he was glowing too. "Are you alright?" He asked her, and gestured to the space next to him. She nodded and stepped over, setting on the ground. He ruffled her hair. "Everything is going to be okay, you know." He said. She nodded to him. Another smile lit up his face. "Stay here and dream with me, okay?"

Zelda smiled back. "Okay."

* * *

_And the world faded to another dream, though this one belonged to the twili queen…_

About five years ago, there was a lonely keep in a castle far away. Outside there was always a storm raging, the sky always fading to doom-and-gloom gray. A young woman sat in the high window, staring out into the rain with heartbroken eyes, perfectly still and silent. The maiden was strange – she was either too young or too old, Midna could never tell or hope to remember. The sweet lines of her expression revealed raw grief, which she would present to anyone who'd look, but so often only the rain would grant her audience. So she watched the rain and the rain watched her tears, and the _drip drop drip drop _of falling water refused to fade. And Midna would come up to the door way and watch some days, everyday, because at first she had thought the girl was just another weak hylian, but then she realized the weak hylians would either get over their grievances or curl up and die. The girl just continued to stare out the window, neither one or the other, her anguish unfading. She didn't sleep and she'd barely eat, and it wasn't any good for her at all, but she was waiting for something. Either a knight or a blade, Midna supposed, but neither was coming. The girl would have to stand for herself if she wanted to leave early, fashioned a sword or set of claws from the darkness, because Sheik wasn't coming back for a very long time.

It really was a sad thought, even to Midna. She rather liked Sheik, even immersed in hate and grief.

That day was one such day, where she went up the winding stairs to the lonely keep – she always walked them, because she wouldn't let herself turn back then, after all that work. Some days it was hard to look at the royal's face. The girl was swooning in the window – Midna watched her as she gasped and sighed, and while the red eyes (unmoving, unfading) – observed, she fainted in the windowsill. A blue hand caught her before she fell out the gaps in stone, into the lonely rain and down to the ground that would break her, one thousand feet below.

Midna brought her to the tower's bed and tucked her in, canting her head in something like wonder. _Stupid hylians_, she thought, _they should know better._ They needed sleep and they needed nourishment. With a sigh she called up a servant and ordered light foods for the girl – simple things the twili could find and make, and the weak little Lady could stomach. Well… she hoped she could stomach. Time would tell.

Midna didn't understand her, the way a lion didn't understand a house cat, because she was a queen who'd been to war and saved herself and the girl… wasn't. Looking at her sleep, she was a morose girl with a broken body who had no one else and no experience in the arena of battle to speak of. Well… she had the sheikah, but he was more broken than she was.

The girl would have to stand on her own two legs before she could live and breathe. Midna wondered if the rain outside the window could tell her that, or the crackling clouds above them.

Perhaps, she thought, the girl was strong somewhere inside, but she hadn't found a path for that strength yet. Or maybe she was just a strange hylian, like a bird with white feathers, to be kept in a cage and watched until the day she died. Neither of these options aroused either true interest or disgust in Midna, just a clinical, passing intrigue. She wondered what path the girl would chose, if she could choose at all. She'd never even heard her speak.

Midna couldn't really find much interesting around her, except that she stared out the window like a doll instead of a person, and Sheik had assured her very firmly that the girl was in fact a person. A little Lady of the castle she was. Well… Midna supposed it made sense. Ladies should be delicate, or so hylians said. It didn't seem to far a stretch to say the delicate maiden had broken, and was now a perfect doll. And if so… she would be considered quite lovely when she got home. If she ever got home… with a sigh, Midna supposed she would have to send some letters to find out about that mess. The monster should be able to tell her something, even if he wasn't very close.

That notion in mind, Midna cast one last look on the unmoving girl before descending the stairs again.

Flash forward by a few nights and drops of rain.

It was a long day of work. Zant had set himself on fire halfway through, and watching the panicking servants _was _a much-welcomed reprieve, but a long day was still a long day. The shadow folk hidden around Hyrule since their dismissal by the king had a few options – stay there and try to protect those weaker, flee to Tot… or flee to her. Many of them had children, and though she loathed admitting it she couldn't turn them away. The despairing red eyes and the feeling that their hearts were breaking with every step they left their beautiful light world behind them… to protect something precious, she couldn't resist that. Sheikah were alike, she supposed, in ways that really mattered. She wondered if hylians could be as noble and loyal. The stories she heard about the royal family made her doubt it, but it was an interesting notion to muse on cold nights and slow mornings. She hadn't had enough of those recently.

As was her custom at the near-end of each day now, she ascended the many-thousand steps, musing and murmuring little lost notions to herself, for only her ears and the empty tower. She didn't glance over the edge – she was so high, high enough that if she slipped and fell her body would shatter – well, only if she didn't bother to catch herself. There was no rail – the place was terribly dangerous for anything that couldn't levitate or rip apart the world… Dark portals. It was so had to find a light world dweller that could make them, even among the sheikah. Oh, dear, but they were just the shadow folk without the certain family to serve and the crow left abandoned, weren't they? She knew they had to survive. She figured their deity would be the same, if he was as benevolent as friendly shadows would have her believe.

The top of the stairs came with a strange sound. It was one Midna hadn't heard before, and when she came to the doorway, curious as a cat, her eyes went to the empty window sill. A step inside and a turn to the left found the pretty doll, tossed across the bed, sobbing her heart out. No silent tears, no melancholy gaze for the rain. Honest and true sobs like a living being.

"I couldn't do it." She moaned into the sheets, "I just couldn't!" And Midna wondered when she'd found her voice.

"What couldn't you do?" She wondered, eyeing the girl again like a strange new creature and took one step further into the room. The hylian girl looked up, her bright sky-eyes turning on Midna, as full of tears as the stormy atmosphere around the twilit keep.

"I knew they would do this. I knew they would all do this." She tossed her hand out, helpless to explain, "I couldn't stop them. Damn it." She choked and shook her head, "Damn it damn it damn it…" It really wasn't lady-like. It was the first interesting thing she'd done besides sit still for so very long. Midna liked motion better.

"What?" Midna asked her once more, and the shimmering blue – Midna had really never held a fondness for the light world's sky, it was too bright and it hurt her eyes, but she could see why Sheik might enjoy the color. (Well, had enjoyed the color, but how could she know it changed…?)

"The war; I knew it was coming and I tried to stop it, I tried to…" She shuddered. "But I only made it worse."

_Oh. _Midna narrowed her eyes and canted her head, taking a step closer. She didn't find herself stopping this time until she reached the bed, and her arms were around the crying girl before she could even _realize_ what she was doing, let alone stop herself. "Of course you couldn't do anything." she told Zelda in a sharp tone, but her arms were still wrapped around the shivering and at once frozen girl… One of her hands came and tilted the blond head back to look in her eyes, while the other rested on her waist and stayed her. "You were a child: completely powerless. If you want to do something about it, then grow up."

She was… glacial, the inside of the Zora's cavern, the dark mountains in winter, a cliff over a world of ice. Her voice was same feeling as the flat of a blade pressed against her throat… Midna was not kind, in words or voice. And Zelda shuddered in her arms, but no more sobs came. She stared at Midna with the too-bright too-blue eyes another moment, before they shut and she let out a little breath like a gasp. Tears still touched on her face and welled at the edges of her eyes.

Midna let go of her chin to pull her close to her chest, and let her cry. These tears… she couldn't really describe why, but they felt more like cleansing and less like despair… and Midna hoped that soon, the rain in the sky would be the same.

* * *

Zelda's body was heavy and hot. Midna stayed there for a moment and let herself leech some of that warmth, selfish and silent, before she would move. She had given more in the last hour than she had in a very long time, and it was showing… after that moment of indulgence came to pass she tucked the broken… the girl, under the sheets and pulled the covers to her chin. She left the room; down the long winding stairs, every step an echo, a reminder that something had changed… she had her meal in her own quarters and went to sleep for a very long time.

Again she went upstairs the next day. The girl was at the window but had her hands on her throat. And when she turned, Midna knew something had warped. She had noticed, the moment the girl had been presented to her, that she looked like Sheik. But she was younger and softer, and the resemblance wasn't like this. This was… too close. Soft angles were sharpened, a surprised look was lighting up the face. Soft warmth exuded from the white flesh like an aura.

"You're not the Lady." Midna said, more curious then wary. The luminous eyes blinked at her, hellfire green and gleaming.

"I'm not." They said in a young man's voice, Sheik's voice… "I shouldn't be here at all."

* * *

"… that man is a lunatic." Midna laughed softly, shaking her head. The shadow caster shrugged, across from her at the table, and drank a little more. He grimaced at the taste, but continued to swallow the medicine. Midna approved.

"… I didn't think I'd ever see the outside again." He said quietly, glancing towards the window and giving a longing stare to the rain. "I'm only inside this body because of my cast Shadow..." Midna canted her head at him while he watched the rain. Whether he saw a world of possibilities or dead ends was beyond her, just like shooting stars and waxing moons in the light's night sky. His tone wasn't quite the way it should've been though, she thought. Perhaps… not at all.

"Would you have minded?" She wondered, "If you had never again set your eyes on the world?" The self-same green eyes turned to her, bright, softer than the harsh thunderheads, cooler than the shattering rain. But there was something kind in his expression.

"To let her live, I wouldn't have minded anything." He said simply, like it was the easiest thing in the world. '_Tear me apart, so long as she may draw breath.'_ was what Midna had heard, though. Her ears were strange like that… She canted her head and sipped her drink, some bitter infusion of apples and tea. It shouldn't have been bitter… It seemed that she had steeped it too long.

"It seems he wasn't crazy enough, though." Her guest mused with a chuckle, a very sad sound that made Midna wonder why the noise could be made like that at all, "After everything, she's so very weak now."

"If what you're telling me is true," Midna began slowly, because she couldn't quite understand this man, "then Sheik and you did something pragmatically impossible; you brought one who was dead back to the living, preserved and whole with her mind intact."

"It had a lot to do with preparation." He admitted with a weak smile, "And I know all that, but… it just doesn't seem like enough."

* * *

Perhaps it was strange, but Midna talked to the One-who-wasn't-Sheik but had no other name, until he went away again. He told her he had woken because 'the Canary wasn't sleeping' but somehow, Midna didn't think Zelda was the canary. Sheik would have told her if Zelda was the canary. Maybe just because you cast a shadow, you wouldn't see what it saw. Like the little birds in the funeral pyres.

He lay back on the bed, hands clasping to his chest. He closed his eyes, his breathing stilled. The visible warmth didn't fade, even as Zelda's eyes – and they were Zelda's eyes, this time – flickered open, over to her in confusion. Zelda was too young and too old, a weakened body with a half-broken soul. Midna wonder how long it would take to heal her. And – she found herself caring. Just a little. Enough to make her stomach turn.

The so-scared eyes like the skittish forest creatures of the light, they lingered on her, wavering in conviction. Midna stared back and wondered if the world would ever end again, if the shadow caster could once more wake, if Sheik would simply slice apart the dark king and be done with everything. But she shook off those musings, because she knew then those things were impossible.

And she was right; in that time they weren't. For another six years the shadow caster's slumber didn't break. For the rest of their time, Sheik did not act on his hate or his apathetic heart. And for another five years, the hero wouldn't wake. But when he did her time changed, and he ripped apart the world.

* * *

The little ghost had smiled at him. "I've been here for too long," She murmured, tail coiling, wings fluttering, where they had sat on the floor of the eerie empty room in the sheikah quarters. "It feels like eternity. You know… something is changing." And her eyes seemed more solid before, even though he could see through her body, could reach through her and touch the other side. It would be horrible, bloodless carnage. It was terrifying…

"I know." He whispered. Again he thought that she looked older than the night before, standing in the moonless hall at night, but only just a little, "I'm trying to find a way to stop it." And her eyes were strange, like the jewel of the amulet.

"You shouldn't stop it." She said with a shake of her head. The spade of her tail came up to brush his face, an eerie caress of cool air. "Change is like a river… it wears down the borders and warps the world. It is inevitable… but suppose you control the river's flow." She smiled at him. "That would be better, right?"

And after that, she bid him farewell. Link fell back onto the bed, heavy eyes set in a heavy head. _Damn it… _

* * *

When he opened his eyes again he knew it was the Other him. Indeed, since his last break in dreams he' been nervous of returning. The grabbing grasping hands, the teeth that clacked and the claws that screamed, showering sparks against his blade and the earth turned to waves of swallowing dirt… little wonder he was nervous of dreaming.

His eyes opened though, heedless of his heart, and he began to move. In a doorway stood a body (Other knew, without telling how, that it was his friend), the light outside shining so bright everything else was cast black. His eyes flickered to Link (oh, no, the Other him), kind and gentle… and he wondered, as the Other him without much reason behind it… _what had happened to Ganondorf?_

* * *

Sheik sighed, wiping his lips clean. He watched the purple smears hiss and fade in the evening air. All that was left on his fingers was a faint magenta stain. He would have to clean them before going back upstairs. _Really, now, we should find a better alternative than monsters, _he thought, gazing around the darkness. There was a crypt beneath the castle – well, an oubliette. He called it a crypt because if you were down here, you were dead or as good as. Except of course if you were a sheikah. Being a sheikah helped a lot in these situations.

His tongue passed over his lips, already dry again – it was cold in the underground space, surprisingly free of the damp he'd expected… Then again, when was the last time it had rained? _Though it may snow soon_, he thought, skulking down another turn. The place was a labyrinth that cast an illusion of the possibility of escape. There really wasn't one. All the doors were sealed shut, and the hole leading in was blocked with solid stone. Monsters patrolled the darkness, spawned by the hatred and the fear lingering in this place,

(_it felt like suffering, it tasted like failure, and he remembered a world illuminated in hellfire and cast in everlasting night from the storm clouds in the sky. It was something he hated, something he couldn't remember without hurting himself with sharp words and long claws made of remorse and memories. Eyes the same color as the dark and wicked place his soul was forged, he would remember the game of ending a world and reigns broken, the storm-cloud ruler crashing into a lake of red below them-_)

a pungent scent that made his lip draw back in a snarl… they were like the Well-dwellers, he thought. They were attracted to the suffering and the pain; moths to a flame or sheikah to the moon. Of course they weren't very substantial, but still… they tasted quite nice. He would like to say 'a sin on the tongue', but more because of the sound and less because of the truth. If anything was a sin on the tongue, it was hylian blood. True light was much more wonderful a flavor.

The execution room disguised as an oubliette. It was reserved for the worst criminals. Sheik stalked it while he considered his options, and thought it a very appropriate venue.

* * *

The kind sweet smile faltered, of course he was startled when (Other) Link asked. He stepped back inside, eyes wavering. "Do you… really want to know?" He asked, soft and almost hurting and it was strangely sweet, the way his voice sounded then, because Other him realized that he sounded like a saddened child, a nervous one, instead of the adult he was supposed to be.

He nodded, watched the hesitant visage bob up and down. His friend slipped around him to sit on the edge of the bed he'd begun this dream in. "… perhaps it is not a long story, so long that I should recount it sitting here, but I don't like to recall." He smiles then, sharp and sweet and a little bitter on the tongue. Everything about him seems to be some manner of sweet or kind. It is… strange, Link's own thoughts decide, but it is only a dream.

"I would still like to hear it, if you'll let me." A dream of someone else's memories.

His friend's smile softens. "I was so happy when I could tell you my name," He admits, his eyes focused on Other's, and only on them. There is something unnerving in the intensity of his gaze - it makes Link's stomach crawl, pleasant and nervous. His eyes are a pretty color, both Link and Other's thoughts note. "It maybe doesn't seem like much to you, but I felt like something was wrong… like I shouldn't talk to you without a name of my own." And he laughs very softly, like this is something silly and not, as Other notices and thinks very clearly, something that means the world to him. He is someone who hides the thoughts that plague him, to comfort those around him. He does bad things, but he is a good person. Or perhaps it was the other way around… Other doesn't think so. He is insistent that Talib is good. "You remember when you told me you had nowhere to go?"

How could he forget? That day under the stormy sky… the pretty eyes had widened a second, remorseful and remembering, before two tan arms had yanked him inside and away from the drizzling rain. "I was so sad… the way you said it, the expression on your face. And you know, I almost missed you. I had been in castletown for the last few days… I had only gotten home half an hour before the rain." Link had arrived at the gates and walked in the rain for that same solid half hour. It had only seemed like a drizzle at first… then the sky unloaded all it had on them, a crashing wave of sorrow. Other him had almost been swept away… and Link was feeling their minds slowly mingle, or perhaps it was just him giving into the dream of a memory.

"You know, it's funny. I was in the castle – delivering something to the sheikah stationed there. And on my way out I got to see the Gerudo leader… he tried to attack the King." Talib's smile seemed very tired. "Isn't it so very strange? I didn't even seem to think about it. My blade slipped through him so easily… I didn't hesitate." He sighed, burying his face in his palms. "It didn't bother me at all. Isn't that strange?"

And then he wondered if asking had been a mistake… he came to sit on the bed at his friend's side, laying a sympathetic hand on his thigh. Talib sighed and shook his head into his hands, mumbling something. "I'm sorry, Link." He said, unburying his head and ruffling Link's hair. "… I love you." He added with a soft, disbelieving laugh. "So please don't look at me with that kicked pup expression…"

And for a moment, his heart skipped a beat, because Talib's fond (a little exasperated) smile looked just like–

* * *

_Drip, drop, drip, drop._

The blood trickled down his finger tips. He kept singing regardless, voice raised in a high haunting tone, clear as glass bells and just as chilling. "The pretty light it never sings, no matter what new songs I bring. The pretty night it never shows, how your expression softly glows… The candle wax will fall and fade, the graves are dug and stones are made, and gazing upon the lonely moon in evermore-night skies I wonder if the little bird's blood, should taste as sweet as the ripened date? Or just a shattered Lune… the bright expression of dawn is so far away from us." He stops singing, red eyes flickering open as he turns the curve. Impa frowns at him.

"You left a trail."

And he gives her a secret grin, "So very sorry about that. Allow me to make it fade." He waves and without watching, he knows the blood dissipates from his fingertips. It is after all not his blood, but the weakened beasts' in the despaired-filled hole. He knows they are just like him – monsters that are only driven to survive – and he feels no pity. He knows that a beast is a beast, whether or not it may speak. He knows his thinking half would always be eclipsed by the need to live. The musings leave him a little bitter, so he turns an almost hopeful look to Impa and says, "You called for me?"

* * *

The security was somewhat lessened today… there was news from east of them that someone matching the fleeing man's description was spotted on the border of the province of Tot yesterday's eve, and it put everyone in a better mood, or at least a less jumpy one.

The horses were whinnying in the stable, he could hear them from just outside. Link had told the guards he wanted to leave, and after a session with Knight Captain Eagus and assurance that he couldn't be the culprit, he was brought to the stables and bid adieu by a guard he didn't know well. And he didn't know how but Midna was inside the doors, waiting for him, when he reached them.

"You know, I saw him," She said coolly, no preamble or worthless things like greetings to be found. Her eyes were gleaming with too much to tell and little to say, the secrets of a liar. "The black-haired man. Schwarz, was it…?" Link didn't think she really had forgotten. He didn't answer - her lips twitched in a grin anyway. "He leapt out a window backwards, quite dramatic. Smelling of soot and sulfur. Hmm… and left quite the mess in his wake. I wonder what he was trying to do." It seemed if he smeeled of soot and sulfur then he was lighting something up, but Midna seemed to read more into it than that. And her grin grew wider, "I suppose we won't know until the cat catches its prey, though. I mean," She tossed her arms out to her sides, gesturing with head canted to one side, ear nearly touching her shoulder, "the guy's a good mouse but compared to Sheik…" Her laugh echoed in the stables and she shook her head. "It will be like paper to a blade." Red eyes flickered toward him, "… hey."

A silent moment passed after Midna spoke, and Link grew uneasy, "Want to see something _really_ interesting?" And then she smirked, with little sharp teeth gleaming out at him. The canines couldn't match Sheik's, but they were still there, still an eerie threat. Uncertain he should reply at all, Link nodded and stepped closer, perhaps against better judgment …

The smirk grew. Midna produced a piece of meat from who-knows-where, dripping blood and other fluids… well, everywhere. She grinned and turned around, to the stall behind her, and took a step to the side so he could see.

Zelda's horse was inside. She'd stood before it all this time… "Masauwu!" She barked with a sharp wild grin, and the steed's eyes flashed fire-bright. Without further fanning of nervous flames, Midna flung the strip of bloody meat and – Link balked, shaking his head and stepping back – the horse reared up and caught it, catching it in razor-blade teeth and whipping its head side to side like a mad dog. It gobbled up the meat while they watched, Midna smug and Link with eyes wide in an expression of… something, a frozen kind of almost-fear with an added good helping of shock. Midna turned back to him after a moment, but he kept gazing on the stallion. Blood still speckled the horse's mouth, spreading out through his coat like droplets in the moonlit fountain… Link took a closer look at the horse than before; saw the strange markings and the shape of the bones beneath the skin and muscle. What he _could_ see wasn't, perhaps, the way it should be. Just a little sharper, a little stranger, but he wasn't like the other horses in the stable. On the stallion's hind quarters and chest, there were markings not unlike the ones on Midna's robes… very faint, easy to overlook. Link had never seen marks like them on an animal before.

… When looked back to her, Midna was smiling at the horse. "Oh, where is your mask? I know I sent you a mask… There it is!" She cooed to the snorting steed, and pointed towards some armor kept in the stables for the steeds of generals… a head piece was on top of a rough-hewn wooden horse, black and polished to a glossy shine. It looked like a dragon's skull, complete with curving horns extending behind it. Midna held it up. "I think it rather fits the Lady's demon horse. Wouldn't you say?" She smiled at him.

* * *

'_The paradigm of pride and shame, the face of innocence or the face of blame. The bastard son and the kind father, the miserable wife and the tearful daughter.'_ Of course these things didn't quite exist as fate intended…

Link remembered the Other him's painful turn of the memory, the kind face screwed up. His friend looked so very tired, worn down to the bone…

In its own way he supposed it could have been kind of pretty; a kind of beauty that made his chest ache. And then Talib had smiled, and it really was so strange. Other him had reached out to comfort when Link woke, again as himself, from the sleep. He sat up and looked around the quarters, unused for over seventeen years. He found himself wondering if someone had died in these walls, trapped by the uncaring world, or just the king's men. He wasn't sure which king he meant.

And… There really was something terrible, about seeing someone else's memories. It was perhaps worth wondering if Other had the same problem with his dreams…

But the musing soon grew old and dull, or perhaps just his location. So he got dressed and told the guard outside his door he wanted to leave the castle.

He didn't think Sheik was coming back to talk to him. And… he needed time to think. Things were certainly changing…

Whether or not he could hold them in his hands to warp the flow of that river remained to be seen.

And so he found himself, standing before the grinning Queen of Twilight, the Dark Lady Midna. Such foreboding titles. And they reminded… and, well, he wondered how she'd gotten here if she couldn't stand the sun.

He cast one more look to the proposed demon horse, mouth speckled with blood, and the queen who was perhaps a touch evil, if not just the kind of wicked that would do Sheik proud. And he looked around the stable too, simply because, before shaking his head at Midna. He passed the next stall… Iyatiku sat inside. He sighed and patted the horse's nose. "Hey, sweetheart," He mumbled to her, ignoring the prying red eyes of the visiting queen, "I have something for your master; you won't eat it if I leave it here, will you?" She snorted at him, tossing her head. He smiled at her and put the bag he'd brought with him over the door's latch. Inside the rough cloth was an apple – he'd honestly considered writing something rude on it, but opted not to. But the look on Sheik's face would have been priceless.

He turned to leave, giving a shallow bow to Midna. He didn't bother summoning his heart to his smile, and his eyes stayed cold. "Nice to meet you. Have a nice day."

And he left the stables.

* * *

Malon was waiting at the gates for him. His eyes went wide and he wondered how she knew, and she smiled at him. "Epona was getting restless. You two are in tune with each other, you know?" She laughed, a pretty melody that for the moment, was only for Link and the wind on Hyrule field.

"You look like you've been through a lot. What's on your mind, fairy boy?" She asked him while they walked in, an easy pace that belied the troubles of their land. Link smiled a little and turned his head to the sky.

"… everything seems to be going wrong. Have you ever felt that way?" As he speaks Malon makes a kind of noise in her throat, sympathetic and sweet, and she turns to the barn.

"Sometimes. I remember…" She starts while retrieving a bag of cucco feed, "… when mom died. You know, it was really bad." She hefted the bag up to rest on her hip, almost like she is carrying a child, and continues speaking as they move toward the corral. She does not ask for his help and would just get irritated if he took the feed from her. "The whole ranch went into a depression. Father couldn't leave bed at all, Mr. Ingo sighed more than he worked. I cried a lot… But, you know, things went on. Life picked up." She tossed him another smile – she was so generous with those, Link was jealous – her voice almost hesitating, but resolute and hopeful. "And… I know it'll do the same for you. But you know you've always got a place to come back to, right?"

He smiled back because really, he had to, but there was a sharp touch on the edge… it tasted like sorrow. "That…" He tossed words around in his mind before he settled on an ending, "makes me happier than you know. Thanks, Malon." And then Link sighed, eyes shut.

The forest was no longer his home… Kakariko was something akin to a second home, he supposed, but it felt empty without his friends. The castle and its town were far too cold… This wasn't like that. He knew Malon. He knew her and Talon and Ingo, and they all treated him the same… like family (and an extra pair of working hands) it was sweet. It was wonderful. And for a moment, he really thought about staying here. His eyes flickered back from the cloud they'd settled on while he thought about Malon's words, and he grinned. "I might have to take you up on that later. Need any heavy lifting done?"

"I've got it." She smiled wider back, reaching in the sack to toss feed to the now-congregating cuccos. "But if you do, you can help me milk the cows tomorrow. How's four sharp sound?"

"Absolutely horrible. I have to run an errand. Can I take Epona?" He asked her just as brightly, eyes shining in the early sun.

"Oh, good. Of course you can. Ride safe."

"Goodbye, Malon." He laughed, jogging up to his horse and waving to the daughter of the ranch. She waved back.

"Remember the cows, fairy boy!" She called to him, all wide smiles and easy laughter.

"Couldn't forget!" Safe on Epona's back he jumped the southward fence and urged his steed on toward the forest.

* * *

Mido and Saria are on the bridge when he walks in, and really there is something strange about that. Mido jumps and shouts – Saria smiles but doesn't speak. She looks so sad for some reason. And Link smiles back, just as sadly, because he is about to tell a lie.

"I'm home." He greets, patting Saria on the head, sticking his tongue out at a shocked Mido. And he expects them to say 'you can't stay here' but Mido doesn't speak, and Saria's smile just grows a little sadder. She seems to know what he is here for. Her fingers are a little cold, and small where they curl around his, and she leads him by the hand across the rest of the bridge. Mido splutters and runs after them, stumbling, falling behind, demanding to know what he wants and _where are you going with him, Saria?_ and Link smiles. At least he knows the self-proclaimed leader would try to protect them.

"She came back three days ago and told me… I'm so sorry, Link." Saria breaks the otherwise silent walk, startling Mido. Link just shook his head at her because… he was just as bewildered. She had to have been talking about Navi… but what did Navi tell her? He… honestly hadn't been certain why he'd come here himself, just that he had to. They moved through the village, the eyes of all the other kokiri – the ones he'd grown up with, who didn't seem to care much for him – following them, but only Mido continued to speak to them, to move with them.

Link found his voice, "… Navi was here?" And Mido fell silent a moment.

During his journey, the times in the future – now it was the past – where he was an adult and had to come here, Navi had stayed tucked away from the kokiri. It would only confuse them, she'd said, and there was no point in upsetting them… "Why would Navi be with you?" Mido asked, so shaky and pale. Link cast a wan smile in his direction, but didn't speak. Saria's grip around his fingers grew stronger.

"She is here, Link. Fairies belong in the forest." She brought him along to the great deku tree's clearing. Mido had made some kind of disbelieving noise and stayed back at the entrance. That was fine, he didn't need to be here for this… The sprout – Woody, was it? – had gotten a little taller, branches reaching for the sky… his leaves fell in the autumn-cool breeze, and the wind tossed Link's hair and set his hat trailing behind him on the afternoon air. A blue light flickered from the leafless branches, and Navi was at his nose so suddenly and wonderfully, her warmth flowing into him.

"Link…" Her voice is quiet, and happy and sad, and really the only thing he wants to hear at that second in time, "I can no longer leave."

* * *

_Fairies belong in the forest. Hylians can't stay here, or they go mad and become Stalfos…_

_I love you, Link. Please be alright. Be careful and stay safe and… I will always love you. You're still my child. _

Fairies couldn't hug. They couldn't kiss you, not really, they couldn't cover you with a blanket and wish you goodnight. They could toss your hair and shriek in your ear, or warm you with their magic, but they couldn't really _touch _you. Link wanted a hug goodbye. A pat, a caress, anything. He wanted to be able to reach out to his friend and meet more than air. Navi was leaving him…

No. He was leaving Navi. And of course, he didn't get a choice. Inside his ribs his heart sunk and he swallowed, though it felt like something was lodged in his throat and would never leave. Fairies for the forest and hylians to the field. Why couldn't they stay in the same places? Why did time have to fade…?

_The great deku tree gave me the power to leave the forest with you. He thought your journey would be longer… I don't know how I lasted this long. But the forest… it calls me to come home. I need the magic, or I will die. Link… _

_I love you. _

Those words played over and over, overlaid with 'you're still my child' said in the kindest tone one could imagine, and he tried to tell himself that he could always go and visit her. But it was strange, because ever since he'd left his childish mind behind, with the seven years in one night, the way through the forest seemed to grow fainter. And he found himself wondering if soon it would disappear from his sight forever. Thoughts churned and twisted – he leapt back onto Epona's saddle, waving at the kids where they stood on the bridge. Mido was flushed and screaming at him. Saria smiled and looked like her heart was breaking. Navi had bid him farewell, bitter and tearful, in the clearing of the great deku tree. She was too weak to leave it. And… he couldn't help but feel like this was the last time he would see them. Just looking from his patch of sunlight to where they stood in the forest's shadows, he traced the curves of their jaws, soft with babyfat that would never disappear, their little calloused fingers at their sides… The sprightly youthful energy that made them stand up straight, backs arched a little back, bouncing on their toes with their eyes so alive even in sadness. He would remember the image perfect and clear, he was sure of it. He set Epona off at an easy trot, watching over his shoulder until their faces were swallowed by dark branches. A trot became a canter, a canter a gallop… Epona exploded onto Hyrule field. She started at that pace towards Zora's river, and Link decided something like _'why not?'_ He'd been to see Malon and Saria and Navi today, why not pay the Zora a visit?... well, Ruto tended to be a perfectly good reason, but Link was certain she had water sage-y things to do. _Then again, Saria and Zelda don't… _Ah, but she liked to go to the lake to escape her father. Link could probably drop by no problems. He hopped off of Epona's back – she had already started to graze, because there was just something about the grass in this part of the feild she loved. Link didn't really think about it, just sloshed into the river, shuddering at the chill that lanced up his spin. It was probably too cold to be doing this.

_Whatever. _He let a slightly bitter grin slip over his face. _No one's here to lecture me, anyway. _

Of course, he was wrong about that.

* * *

"I really love the phrase 'as soon as possible'," He said absently, gazing off into space. "I mean, really, it just seems rather obvious. Either you need it done _now_ or it can wait. Why add 'as possible'? Is it to be polite? I can't see how adding that would make a demand more polite…" Meanwhile, Zelda stared at him like he had grown a second head.

"Are you… are you drunk?"

"No, just in denial. Also a ridiculously good mood." Sheik said it with a smile and a shake of his head. Zelda wanted to bury her own in her hands.

"And… what brought on this good mood?" She asked him, all miserable stares and exasperated tones. She already knew he was in denial over a few things, pretty much all of which could be tied back to a blond, oblivious sweetheart who'd left the castle early this morning. Sheik was most probably in denial about whatever thing he'd done to make Link want to leave, really. Not that she should assume Sheik had been the one to chase him off but… damn it, he was Sheik. He made sport of it. (That was, chasing off the people he loved. He regrettably hadn't grown rusty.)

"I figured it out." He said happily, "Zelda, the Duke of Weiss is here."

"… uh-huh." She was starting to wonder at her brother's sanity. It really was a miracle to hear him so happy about the fact though. "You were upset about this before."

"But he's alive while he's here!" Sheik told her, so very happy. Verily, 'twas an alarming sight to behold. "Schwarz _must_ return, because _the Duke is still alive_~" He sighed, shaking his head with the most beatific grin anyone in the castle should ever see. Zelda wished to hide under the bed until all this was over. "It's wonderful I tell you."

"… I see. Is that… everything, Sheik…?" She asked very slowly, like she was talking to a madman.

"Hmm? Oh, yes, I was just waiting on this." He held up a wand like the kind fashioned by the village children, with a little five-point star on top.

… alright. So she was talking to a madman.

"Anyway, my dearest Queen-"

"I had better be your _only _queen," She cut in, more amused than threatening,

"- I will be taking my leave now, to destroy the evil, save the damsel and… wait. No. No, I'm pretty sure I'm going to go do what I was born to do."

"And what is that?"

"Terrorize people with a fairy wand. Stay safe, dearest sister, and I shall see you next moon!" He saluted with a grin, gave her a kiss, and jumped out the window. She shook her head and noted aloud that her brother was a complete and utter lunatic.

He teleported halfway to the ground.

* * *

The cold had sunken over his whole body from swimming up river, and though it was actually warmer _inside_ the water than out at this point, Link knew he had to get dry. So he trotted, shivering and dripping wet, alongside the merrily gurgling river. Make no mistake, it was an _evil _river. An icy, vindictive one.

Up ahead of him he saw some Zora basking in the sun and a few others playing in the shallow water of the east stream. A female turned and spotted him walking by… "Is that…"

He paid her no mind, continuing towards the bend that led to the rapids. "Link?" Another voice called, this one familiar. Uncomfortably so.

Oh, damn. He walked faster. "-It has to be! Link! Can't you hear me?"

_Why no Ruto, I can't. Lalala… _his fingers found the ocarina in his bag, and he slipped the cord he'd attached to it around his neck, smiling (a little crazy to be honest) at the smooth shape under his fingers. Perhaps with a little magic he could warp away… Ruto wouldn't catch up unless she had the good sense to take to the water – he could probably make it to the top the moment he was out of sight.

The notion fled his mind however, when he saw a flash of beige ahead of him. Other hylians weren't too common around the river, yet there was one, bent over in the grass… then the slumped form straightened, and he saw blond.

_Sheik._ He grinned a little to himself, more relieved than happy because while he had _no idea_ what was going on with him, that was his friend and damn but after today he wanted another hug, _now_.

He took up a run – Sheik heard the sound of pounding feet and turned around, ready to drop him like any foe when their gazes locked, his eye widened and Link was going to lunge when – "Link!" He himself was tackled. He twitched and groaned where he lay half curled on his side shivering, as the wave of water receded. Ruto had the decency to look a mite sheepish. "… I didn't mean for that much…" he heard her mutter, and supposed she had gotten worked up chasing him. Really, Zora could get so very strange, and Ruto was the queen of the whole mess. Bloody lunatic fish-people.

He got back up, a little upset that all this drip-drying was for naught, and looked toward Sheik. His friend remained motionless, cool eyes flickering between Link and Ruto, and Link caught a glimpse of what he was thinking. _What are you doing here? – here to see lady Ruto?- why is she so fond of you?_ Before his eyes stopped flickering, and he closed his expression entirely. Ruto wasn't nearly as cold as she'd been almost… eight years ago, now, Link realized dumbly, oh dear, but she was not an open person either. She was still tepid to those she didn't know, or didn't like. And there were _a_ _lot_ of people Ruto didn't like. Link almost took a step backwards.

"Hi, Ruto…" He muttered, wishing very much that he could run away but _damn_ _it_, Sheik was blocking the path. Ruto smiled.

"Are you finally ready to be wedded, Link?" She asked him, stars in her eyes and hope in her voice. Sheik's eyebrows rose up to his hairline.

Link choked. "Wha- NO! I'm not marrying you!" He denied, his cheeks flushed bright red and eyes wide. Ruto scowled at him from the water, pointing a dramatic finger.

"I gave you the Zora's sapphire! You _promised!" _She complained, dark eyes narrowing in what was definitely, definitely a warning glare.

"I didn't even know what a fiancé _was_!" He denied, waving his hand in front of her in hopes of warding her off. No such luck. And Sheik stood back and _watched, _perhaps the most horrible part of it all. "It's not right, Ruto!" Link moaned in denial, shaking his head furiously.

Ruto shook hers, too, with lips still pursed in a frown. "A promise is a promise!"

"The _world_ was in danger! Can't I get a pass for that?" Link finally begged, back pedaling with every step she made toward land. Even though she was arguing seriously – _very seriously, _his terrified mind pointed out – it was clear, from her flashing eyes to the loose curve of her spine, she was enjoying every minute of this. What was it with the people around here wanting to make him _squirm?_

"No!" With that in fact, Ruto looked ready to begin laughing. It was just then that Sheik decided he wanted in on the conversation again. He sidled up to Link, just behind him and a little to the side… Link had noticed something strange earlier, and he took a moment to notice again. Sheik was garbed in dark, close-fitting clothes and a beige mantle with high collar, and a hood left hanging behind him. In other words, he was dressed like he was going somewhere… and then he could feel Sheik's heat right behind him, and damn if he could worry about much else after that moment. His body decided to cheerfully dredge up the events of last night. _Damn._

"Oh, but he was just so _popular_, miss Ruto." Meanwhile Sheik muttered this with a very wide grin, (except for the word popular which he chose to purr) hidden from Ruto under the collar of his mantle. As he spoke, he oh-so-casually slipped an arm around a green clad waist, a move both the flustered owner and Ruto didn't fail to notice.

Ruto pursed her lips and wondered what _the nice young man _was up to with her Link, _exactly_, while Link turned very red and with a sour expression, wondered what new and horrible torture Sheik was plotting for him. "What I mean to say is… How do you know your engagement is even valid?" Sheik asked and tucked his head against Link's. His other hand came to rest on Link's hip. Ruto blinked, head snapping back, and she took a step away from the shore for the first time during the encounter.

Link closed his eyes and moaned. Complete and utter misery spilled from his throat. The pair of tried and true devils kept conversing.

"… something I should know about?" Ruto was asking when Link tuned back in to the conversation, and Sheik answered her with the same horrid grin on his lips.

"Oh, yes. You see, dear Link here is already taken."

_And what exactly do you mean by that, Sheik? _Link found himself wondering, fully entrenched in a special kind of horror. _Are you laying claims again?... And if you are, are you at least planning on keeping this one?_

"On that note… I hope you don't mind, but I'm afraid I really must to speak with him in private. Please have a lovely day, Ruto, do stay safe!" Sheik called back to her, now giving her his best diplomat smile, only reserved for those he didn't hate but had still one-upped. Link tried not to think about the only way he knew Sheik had one-upped Ruto.

They went up over the cliff side so they were overlooking the river before Sheik turned back to him, red eyes composed and serious again.

Link recalled that Sheik didn't exactly frequent the waterways. "What are you doing here?" They asked each other at the same time, and blinked. Link narrowed his eyes. The travelling cloak still weighed on his mind…

"You first, Sheik." He spoke up first, very clear it wasn't a request as much as a demand.

Sheik didn't worry about little things like that, of course. He'd answer whenever it suited him. The slight curl of his lips told Link that… "Why Link," his voice was a soft coo while his fingers just as gently brushed Link's bangs from his face. "I'm just on a little afternoon stroll." The sun shined down on them, halfway fallen from the sky. "Though I'm certain the reason you were, quite apparently, sloshing through Zora's river in this weather is much, much more interesting." His tone was a little sharper at the end, because Sheik was in too good a mood for a full out reprimand. Link felt himself flush.

"Ahaha… Ah, no, no. Not really… just felt like it I guess." He sighed, catching his fingers in Sheik's cloak to try and keep him there, a futile effort at the best of times, but it told Sheik to stay still a moment longer. "Can I… talk to you?" He wondered, more tentative then before. Sheik hesitated.

"I really don't have the time…" He mumbled, "But, if you get out of those clothes, I will." Again, Link choked.

Sheik didn't realize until five minutes later how what he'd said could possibly have been misconstrued.

* * *

Link was pouting at him, tucked inside the warmer cloak Sheik had been carrying in his pack… Sheik rather liked that cloak. It was oversized and quite comfortable, and Impa had made it herself even though he knew she shouldn't have had the time, a few years ago… she'd made it oversized so he could keep it as he grew, it wasn't for moving in as much as bedding down, really. Sheep leather lined with wool, it was plenty warm, for even snow. And Link was wearing it, as far as Sheik knew, with nothing else at all. Even though it really was Sheik's fault, he wasn't sure how to feel about it. But… at least Link's clothes were drying.

"I'm sorry, Link." He said, reaching out to touch Link's cheek again. Link twitched at his touch, but otherwise gave a little weak smile.

"It had to happen someday, I think. I just… I never really expected it to happen all the same."

"I think everything is like that." Sheik gave a short laugh, eyes glancing toward the horizon. "The end of things, I mean. They always seem so far away." He paused; glancing toward the fire they'd made instead of the sky, and seemed to think. "… where will you go? Without Navi…" Voice even softer than before, though whether he was afraid to hurt Link or afraid of the answer remained to be seen. Link smiled back.

"You never told me where you were going." His smile was tired, and his eyes half-lidded like they were foggy with sleep. Sheik paused and Link went on, "Tell me and I'll tell you. I don't buy that stroll bull for an instant." And Sheik… smiled.

"You're terrible." He chuckled, "Alright, alright, but only because I'm worried about you; I'm going to hell."

… _I'm sorry?_

Link forced him to elaborate. Sheik kept giving him this too-amused grin. "I. Am going to the kingdom of Tot. They say the gateway to hell lies inside. You know, the underworld…? Silly hylian." Link almost jumped up, then remembered his very… pantless, shall we say, state, and had to settle for leaning forward and giving Sheik a very intense stare.

"What! Why?... and by yourself?"

"Of course by myself." Sheik frowned at him, narrowing his eyes. "Are you alright?" Link assured him he was _fine, _but he wasn't going to be if Sheik continued stalling. Sheik denied stalling before he continued, "Impa was sent a letter requesting my presence. It is urgent… and the trip itself will allow me the necessary time to tie up that certain loose end." He smiled, rocking to his feet. "So. I really should get moving soon."

"Is it going to be dangerous?" Link asked, knowing full well the answer. The place was called _Tot, _of course it was bloody well dangerous. This was a courtesy question.

Red eyes narrowed. Sheik seemed to be thinking the same thing. "Well…" He said, worrying his lip between sharp teeth, tone hesitant, eyes narrowed in consideration at the sky.

"I'm coming with you." Link announced over him, flat and dull, gaze boring into Sheik's and daring him to protest. Sheik frowned but, for whatever reason, he didn't fight it. Tan fingers came up to rub over his arm, where he'd made Link cut him…

"… alright." And upon hearing that, Link smiled. He dressed quickly while Sheik looked away, his clothes dried out by the sun and the fire. He tried to give the cloak back but Sheik just shook his head.

"You'll need it soon," He said softly, and made off.

As he walked into the slowly falling sun's wake, Sheik pulled his hood up over his hair. The sound of pounding footsteps reminded that Link was coming with him wherever he may go. And… Sheik could have chosen to run then, to disappear into the darkness of the trees and cliffs ahead of them. He knew Link couldn't catch him, but he chose to walk because, and he was a little angry at himself for it (no more than that, he was growing so tired of being angry), he knew that really, he wanted Link to follow him. And… he knew that Link would. _Even into the depths of hell…?_

He asked as much of burning blue eyes, because he wasn't sure and yet…

The sharp silent moon would answer him; he always did.

* * *

**(chapter end)**


	14. The songs of sin reach our ears

**Chapter notes: because of something left by a reviewer (besides an inadvertent reminder that I need to write and post a guide for this story…) I feel I should make a note: hylians, on a physical level, are easy prey. They have thinner skin than goron (much thinner) and even the gerudo (less so) they don't blend with their environment like the zora (and lack the ability to make epic electric force fields like the Zora), and their magic while strong needs instruction to be utilized, which only royals and mages typically receive. The sheikah have powerful magic that they're ALL instructed in (both unlike and )like the hylians and physical capabilities like the gerudo, giving them a rather unfair advantage over both. **

**Hylians have been relying on their skill to outwit and creatively kill their enemies to reach the top. And that is fine, because they are better at it than anyone else.**

**Review replies:**

**Trolly's Bara-chan: braaaains…**

**Ryttu3k: What? Why does she need to focus?**

**Samalane: thank you~ **

**e: Glad you're enjoying the story… erm, stories. Huh. I always find it weird when people have read more than one… well, I have my reasons for portraying Link like this. Your review did reawaken a thought in me though, so. **

**CottonCandyHaze: Female? Feeeeemaaaaleee? *stare while twitching* yeah maybe. By the way, THANK YOU for planting that very shoujo image of Talib in my head. If I paint that, you will be blamed. Hope that's cool.**

**Thanks to everyone for reviewing~!**

**And, of course… This chapter will be fun. I hope everyone enjoys it.**

* * *

**Chapter 14: The songs of sin reach our ears (Amber and Crows)**

_Cold. _Link tucked his nose down into the folds of the mantle, inhaling the scent of preserved leather and something spicy that had sunk into the material… he breathed out again with a shiver. He never thought he could be so cold. The air on the road they travelled was roughly the same as the deeper rooms of Zora's cavern… By the gods, how he'd hated Zora's cavern… Why did it have to be so damn _cold?_

Sheik was somewhere to the side of him, buried in darkness Link's eyes couldn't cut through. His ears were fine though, better than Sheik's, and he could still hear him moving.

After a few minutes wherein he slunk through the dark, overturning rocks and moving what sounded like sticks against stones he came back to set some branches down beside the crackling fire. Link scooted closer and sighed at the feeling of warmth on his fingers.

Sheik chuckled. "I told you I was going to hell," He murmured, a cloud rising from his lips while he spoke, and after he'd settled into his spot he reached across to brush Link's cheek, heedless of the flames.

From just that slight touch Link flinched – Sheik's fingers were like ice. "It's only going to get worse as we get closer. This is a strange part of the world, you know…" Sheik sighed, another cloud of frozen breath escaping his lips like a soul, before he leaned back on his hands. He didn't seem to notice the stone was ice cold as well.

The path they were on was almost entirely barren – apparently it was courtesy to leave things like kindling or arrows, depending on the area, stashed around rocks for travelers. Sheik had plucked some branches and carried them several miles, but they hadn't been dry enough to burn, so he'd exchanged them for one of the mentioned stashes. It was… interesting, Link thought, and nuzzled deeper still in folds of beige. With little to look at besides the fire that stung his eyes, or Sheik… who Link was avoiding looking at for other reasons, he gazed at the design on the mantle's collar. He wanted to bring up a hand to trace it, but they were much more comfortable away from the frigid air…

"You don't really like the cold, do you?" Sheik mused.

"Hate it." He replied immediately, trying to keep the chatter of his teeth from becoming too obvious. Sheik was leaning over, legs crossed and elbows resting on his knees, and the wide opening of the collar revealed his grinning mouth when Link chanced a glance up at him.

"Only going to get worse," He repeated, and shifted in place. "I'll teach you a trick." He brought his hands up and pulled on the collar, until it was well over his nose, and took a few deep breathes inside the cloak. "It traps the heat." He explained once he'd finished demonstrating, hands going back down to where they'd been by the fire. "And if you fingers start to go numb, put your hands between your thighs or under your arms to warm them." Link made a face at him.

"… thanks." He mumbled. Sheik looked so at ease in the horrible, icy cold, not a care in the world. It made Link feel a little inadequate for wanting to burrow into his side to seek out warmth. He _knew_ Sheik was warm. Sheik was… always… warm…

He felt his cheeks flame, and it unfortunately intensified the sensation of cold against them. The wind blew and felt like swords dancing over his flesh. He shivered and burrowed into his borrowed cloak. Sheik sighed as though it were a pleasant breeze, the smile still on his features. Link hated him a little bit then.

"We should bed down." Sheik told him, "And head out early. I'll take watch, alright?" No, it wasn't. Link hesitated. Sheik still had dark circles under his eyes.

"You'll wake me when you're tired?" He checked with narrowed blue eyes set on Sheik's. The red glimmered, dark maroon edges and amber-specked in the firelight… it was a beautiful effect, dark and strange and a little eerie. Sheik's eyes looked warm like the flames. Tan lips twitched, cast orange-gold by the fire. He nodded.

"Go to sleep, Link." He smiled. "Tomorrow we won't have to camp in the open." Well. That sounded… really nice. Link lay down and closed his eyes, curling up inside the cloak, and took Sheik at his word. Fingers risked the terrible cold to snatch up his sword, still in its scabbard, and pull it under the cloak where he could hug it to his chest. Using a spare tunic folded up for a pillow he laid down his head to sleep.

The fire continued to crackle. He heard Sheik shift, and realized the sheikah was going to walk over, probably sit and lean against his back. But… the minutes ticked by without that ever happening. Sheik stayed across the fire, and Link fell asleep.

* * *

The moon's sliver hung above him, a beacon in the sky. The crow sitting underneath it with his legs dangling over a cliff was not Iblis. He canted his head – long locks of blond fell away to reveal a blindfold; strips of black bandages that hid his eyes from the world. He raised one hand – a slow, easy salute – and Link wonder if he should call out, but the blond man pulled up his legs, rocked to his feet, and took off on night-black wings.

Link was alone in the darkness.

Seeing nothing better to do, he began to climb up toward the cliff. The world got colder and colder as he climbed – his muscles prickled and fingers grew numb, every breath hurt and sent an opaque cloud in front of his eyes. When he held his breath long enough to see it, the cliff still seemed very far away. The howling wind that had appeared halfway up to where he was tried to rip him, shivering and silent, from the rock face to crash to the ground that suddenly seemed terribly far below him.

He forced himself to keep climbing.

His eyes were heavy… his thoughts sluggish and blurred, like he was too tired or perhaps had a glass of something strong… was it… Nabooru who said he was a lightweight…? Or Sheik… he remembered tan skin and a grin… his fingers kept grasping for the next hold, and he gave a shout when he couldn't find one and slipped. His thoughts were blurred, his body reacted slowly.

That same body dangled, too heavy and slow and useless, from one hand. The strength of his grip was rapidly dwindling and he stared down, down at the cold unforgiving ground… he'd really climbed so far. He couldn't fall back there. He wouldn't do it. The muscles of his arms cried out in protest as he forced his frozen body to move, to haul one arm over the other and grasp a new piece of rock in prickling fingers. He hauled himself over to the top.

Warmth enveloped him.

* * *

Sunrises were the best on a mountain. The clear crisp air changed the colors and set off the whole display, and raised up as they were it seemed to go on so much longer… a kind of suspended twilight he sometimes wished could last for eternity, but he knew the reality was never as lovely as the dream. The cold air bit into his arms when he shook Link's shoulder to gently rouse him. Sheik considered taking back his cloak before he woke, but Link was rather slow when he did. He could probably get away without an awkward moment. Or Link getting upset with him and giving a lecture, goddesses forbid.

A sleepy, whining moan issued from the hylian's throat. "Time to get up," Sheik answered in a hushed voice, the one appropriate for early morning and late night, and the little places in between where gentle tones were spoken.

Sleep-hazed blue flickered from under rapidly twitching lids, and after a moment Link pushed himself up and rubbed his eyes with a sleepy moan. "Time for watch already?" He mumbled. Sheik smiled.

"Not… quite." He hazarded, leaning on Link. It had the desired effect of making him open his eyes – to stare at Sheik in confusion, but at least he was awake. "I want you to look at this." He added, gesturing toward the sun. Link shook his head a moment before tearing his gaze from the bare flesh of Sheik's arm to the colors of the early morning sky.

"… pretty…" The hylian mumbled after a few minutes, eyes tracing the drawn out shapes of clouds and a few birds drifting in the distance. Death Mountain was several miles to their south – it had taken all of yesterday afternoon for reach the mountain they were crossing, and some of the evening to reach the pass where they'd slept. They'd picked it because the plateau was wide enough to camp on, with walls of stone on two sides to keep them from tumbling over the cliffs. The morning air was as icy as the night's, and Link found himself hoping the sun would warm the world a little. He _was_ warmer than before… he looked down and wasn't sure what to think, though his heart jumped and stuttered. "Damn it Sheik." Was what he grumbled for his first sentence of the day, after he decided on his reaction. He thought it was an appropriate choice. Sheik sent him a questioning look, and had his mantle tossed back at him for his troubles. "There's no way you're okay without this." Link muttered. Sheik glanced at the bundle of cloth being pressed into his admittedly cold fingers, then glanced at the raised bumps covering the backs of his arms. Alright, so he _was _cold.

"You needed it more." Even so he shrugged his cloak back on. It was a comforting weight on his shoulders, and he felt good as he tugged the collar up to obscure his mouth and nose from the world. "We've got a lot of ground to cover, so we're eating a ration and heading out." He added that without another word on the subject of keeping warm, and Link didn't argue. All he gave was a sleepy nod, and at the moment Sheik was fine with that.

* * *

They were on the edge of crossing to another mountain when they stopped this time. The day had been spent trudging in the cold wind and the cool sun, over hard stone and under unforgiving birds. One of which had been their lunch after making a swipe for Link's hat. No one touched Link's hat.

Sheik bit back a chuckle at the thought. The fact that the bird had really been going for his head was of no consequence to the upset Link, but Sheik took that as enough incentive to shoot the little monster down with a well-thrown needle.

Link sent him an odd glance from across the fire. In his fingers there was a small knife, which he slipped easily over a piece of scrap wood. It probably should've been in the fire but it was keeping Link from getting bored, and that was really a very good thing. Link got up to strange things when he was bored, occasionally dangerous ones, like teasing a sheikah. And there was only one of those around, a very frustrated sheikah who should not be toyed with. In more ways than one, although there _was_ one form of toying that would resolve certain frustrations rather nicely…

Ehem. On to more relevant subjects though, Sheik had been searching the mountainside for signs of Schwarz as they travelled, but it seemed wherever he'd gone, it hadn't been through there. Considering the dwelling this path passed, though, it wasn't as much a surprise as a given. There were things even supposed sheikah would avoid, if they wanted to continue their lives unobstructed and more importantly unscathed.

The wood shavings were gathering in a pile by Link's boot – Sheik considered bagging them to use as kindling later on. Goddesses knew they'd need it.

The sun was sinking down in the sky, but he knew they shouldn't pass through the next valley at night – he'd learned that the first time – and so he'd stopped and searched out a cave he'd marked the last trip through, made sure it was still empty, and ushered Link inside. The sunlight would disappear soon.

They used a light spell to illuminate the space when it did – it burnt against Sheik's fingers a little when it was his turn to cast it, a constant tingle like spices on his skin – and canted his head at Link. Link acknowledged him by setting down the wood and the blade, readjusting himself until he was comfortable… and then turned his head up with a glare up to regard him. Ouch.

"I am taking first watch." He said slowly, burning eyes daring Sheik to protest, "You are sleeping. I do not care if you're not tired."

Oh dear. Sheik felt an inappropriate smirk tug on the corner of his mouth, and tried to hide it under the cowl of his mantle. Seemed he'd brought along a bossy one. Now, whether or not to fight it…

… Well, he supposed he could try sleeping. If he got bored he could always get up to other things, anyway. "Yes, sir." He saluted Link, a gesture bordering on disrespectful with his careless delivery and easy going tone, and lay down. The ground was cold… the downside to sleeping in caves was the lack of a fire. He let his spell fizzle out.

The sound of fabric shifting came to him a few moments later in the dark. He could feel Link's warmth across from him, maybe a foot and a half between them. And he thought he could easily reach across that space, catch a pale hand and cold fingers or the corner of a cloak… he didn't, though, instead coiling up into a ball. He smirked and shut his eyes when Link told him 'sleep tight.'

He didn't dream, but that was probably because he never fell asleep.

* * *

At about four AM, he could tell Link was far too tired. His form – a blotch of black on dark, dark brown – wavered and swayed, and every few moments he would jerk and gasp and shake himself awake. Enough was enough after a quarter of an hour had passed… so Sheik pretended to be roused from dreaming, going so far as to stretch his arms above his head, back arched while he teeth parted in a great, sleepy yawn. The yawn was not faked, but he knew he couldn't sleep. He'd been trying all night.

"Mm… Link?" He sat up, reaching out in the darkness until he caught a strong shoulder in one hand. Link stiffened. "It's way too early…" Sheik mumbled like he didn't notice, and yawned again, "But since I'm up, how about I just start my watch now?" Link hesitated. Sheik smiled though, because after a moment the hylian seemed to realize the futility. He was no good as-was, anyway.

Link lay down, not bothering to move away from his friend… His back was pressed to Sheik's thigh while he curled up on his side on the ground, warmed by their bodies.

"Okay." He whispered, and something like 'thank you' came next. Sheik found himself running his fingers through strands of blond hair while Link fell asleep.

At some point past that, between then and dawn, Link's head found its way onto his thigh – Sheik didn't pay much attention, gazing out the cave entrance and worrying his lip between his teeth. "… damn it…" He whispered as morning light spilt in, along with something else.

The sound of flapping wings, and a certain bird's call.

"Nn… What…?" Link mumbled, shifting to stare up at him with one eye cracked.

"We have a problem." Sheik grimaced while Link sat up, straightening his hair and cloak with a frown. He started gathering up their things, giving Sheik another glance as if to say 'I won't ask again'. Sheik meanwhile contemplated the best way to explain why he was biting his lip and staring outside like their doom – or an irate Impa – was on the other side of the stone wall.

Link sighed. Sheik sat up, took his share of the items they carried, and slunk out the opening of the cave. He gave a miserable look towards the sky. "… not yet." He muttered, and followed it with, "Quick, let's go." And he took off down the slope into the valley, hearing Link shout a protest from behind him. When he hit the bottom and looked back Link was skidding down after him with a rain of pebbles to announce his arrival. Sheik took off again once he reached the bottom.

"What are we running for?" Link demanded, running at his side and looking at Sheik like he was insane, which they'd already established he was. The sun continued to rise – a bird cried out from somewhere to their left side.

"We're running _from _that." Sheik emphasized, as a bird took off from a cliff above them, and then went into a lazy swoop when it spotted them. It looked kind of… _special_, one could say, but nothing big or fast enough to pose a threat. Link paused to stare in disbelief. This thing was some kind of brain-damaged buzzard. What could Sheik possibly think it would…

It flew by.

Everything froze. And… Link reached up and patted his head. His fingers caught in his hair, ran down to touch his ears and his forehead. He could feel his ponytail hanging down his back. And… nothing else. The comb, the hat, everything gone without even a tug…

No. _No._

Sheik flinched at the scream of pure **rage** that echoed over the mountainside.

* * *

"The bird is dead Sheik."

"I know the bird is dead, this is why I was trying to avoid the bird-"

"No more avoiding the bird, I'm _killing_ that fucking bird." Link seethed, scaling the cliff face. Sheik couldn't recall the last time he had seen him so angry… wait, no, he'd been fighting Ganondorf. Sheik didn't want to compare that to their current situation though, so he pretended he couldn't remember. It just wasn't right. The oblivious takuri was nested on top of the cliff they were scaling, picking at its prize. If possible, Link's eyes narrowed _further, _two burning slits of rage-filled blue. "My hat." He muttered, sounding pained for some reason Sheik could fathom but didn't really want to, because this was the most ridiculous…

Link yanked himself over the cliff side, arms snapping outward. Sheik forced the train of thought from his head, as the now-alerted takuri panicked and tried to fly away. Link caught a handle of flopping, writhing feathers.

* * *

"… too bony." Sheik decided to state because someone had to, but it was only he and Link there and if _Link _complained about the meal Sheik was going to beat his ass all the way to the city gates. Link glanced up at him, continuing to gnaw on a thigh bone like a dog. Sheik rolled his eyes heavenward a second in exasperation. "So, yes. You got your hat back-" He gestured to the slightly worse-for-wear green cap, which he didn't think was possible (for it to be worse, that was) until the thing smelled of a takuri's nest, "and your got your horrible revenge, now we should lay these out-" referring, of course, to the now deceased takuri's bones, "-and get going again. If we hurry we can make it to the ridge by mid-afternoon, and then the lantern house will only be half a day away."

"Okay." Link said, relatively docile again now that the hat-thief was dead and his bones between Link's teeth. They moved the pile of parts to the takuri's last resting place when it had been alive, and continued walking. The noon time sun burned above them, but the air was still freezing.

As they climbed Sheik noticed that this route was quicker than the one he usually took… and that the winds from north were stronger than usual. Strange. He frowned and glanced back at Link, who had been gazing off the mountainside but now gave him an inquiring look. Sheik shook his head and continued looking forward.

* * *

After that the rest of the day slipped them by – Link's shouts of rage had thoroughly startled any animals from coming out for a large distance, and a long time. The ridge arched out to the east in the evening when they made camp, next to a grouping of small trees growing from the mountainside. Link saw more green below them.

"So, we heading down there tomorrow?" He wondered, gesturing to the trail of hills and valleys, and the mountain a few miles beyond them. Sheik shook his head.

"No." He said while pulling out some salted meat, "We're heading through these trees come morning and heading for the north side of the mountain. We can stop at the sable shrine to make our prayers." He sighed and glanced toward the trees. "Since I'm cooking…" He began slowly. Link bounced to his feet and disappeared into the trees with a shout about them needing more wood for the trip.

Sheik smirked and began to set up the fire.

In a lazy fit of 'Link is not here this is quicker' he cast a spell to ignite the logs instead of sparking one by hand. When he returned with the firewood and tinder Link glared at the cozy light in disbelief, but didn't call Sheik out on using magic he didn't need (and more importantly in Link's mind, not suffering in the cold like he had). He tossed down the wood he'd brought and huddled close to the fire as another howling wind swept by. "I don't get how you're used to this." He muttered, to which Sheik replied:

"I spent most of the seven years around the domain."

"… What?" Link leant back enough to look him in the eye. Sheik's smile was just a little sad looking…

"The seven years of the war. Whenever I could I trained in the Zora's cavern, and then when Ganondorf froze it I would just wander around the domain… I often wished I could thaw out the residents, though." He sighed, "I was supposed to be on 'guard duty'. So, you know. I'm used to this." Link regarded him with wide eyes. Sheik plucked one spit up and away from the flames, testing the meat with a knife. "Done." He announced in a dull tone, handing the spit over to Link. Link continued to stare at him.

"Sheik…"

_Oh, no. _

"Did you… really work for Ganondorf in the war?"

"Yes." He answered bluntly, removing the second spit now. _Depending on your definition of 'really work'. _Again his dagger's tip was pressed into the meat. Hm… he preferred it bloodier, but he wasn't sure how Link would take that… "I was in his service for a large duration of time. Why do you ask?"

"… what did you do?" Link asked, looking dreading. Sheik took a bite of his meal and chewed thoughtfully.

He swallowed and swiped his tongue over his lips, not missing that Link watched it with a certain odd curiosity, before he gave an answer; "Killed people."

* * *

_So long ago that it seems like forever…_

Even though looking at her made her stomach twist, ill and unnerving like a snake on the ground before her (its fangs flashing but not yet bared)… Midna continued to ascend the steps to the keep at the end of every day.

Really… the queen of twilight was very strange.

Telling time in the unchanging haze was an art, one she had long mastered but still toyed with in boredom. Day or not the world wouldn't change… unless she willed it, and then only in her castle walls. Today she had done that, finishing her work and morphing the world around to suit her tastes and momentary amusements. After she'd painted a grinning moon into existence above her throne though she grew bored with it, and decided it was time to see the crying girl in the tower.

Back to that same girl, Midna kept visiting her even though it made her stomach turn. Really, because of that. It was… fascinating.

Zelda sat at the table today, rubbing her throat. A frown curved her lips. Midna thought she actually looked almost pretty, when she was frustrated and puzzling over something, instead of sobbing out her heart over and over, or wearing the blank expression of a shattered heart and mind.

"… how do you grow up?" Zelda asked, staring blankly ahead of her. That was what was keeping Midna from calling it pretty, actually, the blankness of her gaze. Like someone dead. She was chewing her lip though, almost absently, and it gave her away as still living and breathing and thinking, and just one of those was important to Midna at all. Nearly anyone could breathe or live. A creature without a mind was just a pet.

"You get knocked to the floor while your life is shot to hell, and then you force yourself to stand up again." Midna said it like it was the simplest thing in existence. It had worked for her after all. Growing up was painful and short and simple, once she'd gotten past the screaming and denial that she'd been forced to her knees and shamed. Blue eyes, glimmering, alive with frustration, flickered up to her. Zelda seemed to be taking it in.

"I see… what is your name?" She asked, in a voice that wasn't quite soft.

"I am Midna of the twilight."

A slow blink. The chair scraped against the ground and Zelda stood from the table, holding out a hand. Zelda told her, "I am Zelda of Hyrule. The worthless daughter and rightful heir." And as Midna shook it, she smiled. The girl would grow on her yet.

* * *

"… You're an ass." Link chuckled in disbelief, ripping into his food with sharp canines, though he knew his couldn't hold a candle to Sheik's. Sheik meanwhile used his canines to rip apart and devour his own meal much more quickly.

"I'm not joking." He protested while poking the fire with a stick he kept beside him (it seemed to be more from boredom than need). "I lied and cheated and murdered people for that wretched idiot."

"I bet you lied and cheated _him _out of a lot." Link muttered. Sheik almost replied with a very juvenile 'well duh'. But he was better educated than that.

He sniffed and – ruining the snobbish image he had _just_ erected – licked the last of the meat scraps and juice from the spit with long laves of his tongue. Link didn't seem to see anything off about that, either. Strange.

Well, he'd probably never… Sheik banished the notion before his thoughts could get worse. Anyone could see they were more than ready to get worse.

"Of course I did," He muttered, before coiling his tongue around the metal to make sure he really got _everything_. With the day they had ahead of them, this was comfort food. "I was the twisted songbird. If there is a sin I've likely committed it."

"Somehow I doubt you went that far." Link smiled at him. "I know you. You're too nice. You're just being hard on yourself again."

"I never."

"All the time."

"What's with you tonight?" Sheik demanded, leaning back and scrutinizing Link like his appearance held the answer. Link smiled back at him.

"Combination of dying of cold and being outside again. It feels wonderful." He breathed out a sigh then frowned when he could see it. "… like I said, dying of cold. That part isn't as wonderful I'm afraid."

"You're not dying."

"I am."

"You're _not._" Sheik tossed a half-empty skin of water at him. It smacked his collarbone before falling in his lap with a wet _plunk. _Link stuck his tongue out before taking a sip – Sheik groaned and muttered something under his breath. "You're insane."

"Pot calling kettle~ was that a fairy wand I saw in your hand yesterday?"

"Shut up and drink your water."

* * *

About an hour later – wherein they fought, tossing verbal barbs more entertaining than sharp and simply bickered like a pair of ten-year-olds – Sheik stopped stoking the fire. The moon rose up behind him, a silver scar in the sky. It seemed brighter than before, high up here in the air. Link noticed it was harder to run and breathe here when he was chasing the takuri… hopefully it wouldn't pose too much of an issue.

Sheik was settling in to take first watch without saying anything, turning to the cliff side so he could gaze on the rising moon. Link came and sat beside him, rousing a surprised grunt from the man. "… are you okay?" He asked softly, slanting a look at Sheik.

"Better than ever." Sheik replied immediately.

"… so… have we pretty much given up on 'sheikah never lie' then?" Sheik's shoulders sagged a little, but he still turned a faded smile to Link.

"Sorry. Guess I just got used to it after so long." His expression didn't change. "No, I'm not fine. I'm worried. But at the same time I'm… excited. Tomorrow, though, I will just be worried." Red eyes wavered on Link. "Is that enough for you?"

"No." Link muttered, then shook his head, "Why haven't you been sleeping?"

For a moment Sheik just stared at him, eyes wide, and silent. "… I… simply cannot fall asleep." He returned, and Link's frown grew.

"You slept the other night." He brought up, and flushed at the memory. His shoulders jerked and he wouldn't say anymore, with an embarrassed glare daring Sheik to call him out on it.  
"That was different." Sheik cut in dismissively, then he seemed to register what he was seeing. His eye gleamed; his bangs had shifted to cover the other one. "… after all, I had a rather warm bedfellow," He began, a very evil, sinister realization creeping into his tone. It must've been a struggle not to let the grin they both knew wanted to appear to begin forming. "One whom, I imagine, wouldn't be willing to repeat the experience…" He canted his head and said the next part very softly, like an admission of guilt, "So."

"… Sheik-"

"Worry about it tomorrow, Link." Sheik waved him off, and turned his stare back to the moon. "And get rest. Tomorrow I'm relying on you; if you don't come through, we'll have to start over. And you don't want _that_." He shrugged, "So go to sleep. You can chase me about my lies and my problems when we're done."

Link meanwhile, was trying to figure out what the hell was going on. _You're relying… on me. _

That was interesting. Sheik hadn't relied on Link for anything outside of all that 'saving the world' nonsense a year ago. _What exactly are you relying on me for? _Then something else stuck out at him, more. "… promise?" He asked, eyeing up Sheik because he wasn't fond of going back on those, and if Link could only get his word…

Red eyes finally, _finally_ slanted back towards him. "Promise." Sheik swore faintly. Link turned away and felt a satisfied smile prick his lips.

If Link could only get his word, then he could harass Sheik all he wanted about it. And he planned to.

* * *

As he drifted off to sleep, he wondered what exactly lay ahead of them.

He woke up in a crypt. _Oh, fu-_

Wait. He frowned, standing and dusting himself off. This was… he knew this place. Somehow. Ah… the architecture, it reminded him of Kakariko… interesting. Now where was he… and why was he dreaming of this place?

A mass of darkness ahead of him shifted and revealed itself to be feathers. The feathers shifted further to reveal a crow and a black-as-night beast, something like a cat with amber eyes that gleamed almost threateningly in the faint fairy-light of the chamber. The crow with the great wings settled on its back canted its head at him.

"Dead." It chirped, in a high tone like a child. "Dead."

And the cat-beast stepped towards Link, eyeing him up and down. Its fur gleamed and changed color with the half-lights that hit it – Link got the sense it wasn't all there, though the meaning of that notion was foggy to him…

"Carnage and Dead." The crow repeated in a deeper tone, and took off. The cat continued to circle Link even as the crow beckoned him after it. He didn't move. Glinting amber eyes continued to inspect his, before the cat slipped behind him into shadows and didn't return. Link followed further into the crypt.

From on top of a stone doorway the bird shrieked at him. A red stone glittered from the neck guardian above the doorway – Link's hand went to touch the amulet at his collarbone, and the door dragged open. "Dead!" The bird cawed and flew in. Link followed it. The now-chattering crow alighted on the corner of a coffin, ruffling its feathers and repeating 'Dead, Carnage, Dead' over and over. Link walked to the edge of the coffin. His hand came to rest on the side…

And a swirling flash of colors ripped out to grab him.

_The singing draugr, white fur in a narrow face, yellow eyes – Iblis reaching out from the darkness, cradling a soul, taking something from the claws of a crow – the Keaton mask a soldier had asked him to get, dark blue hair and a man with bandages to hide his expression – the moon falling, bright white, a shattered red stone. _Link staggered back, away from the coffin. His eyes stung and grew teary. On half-moved lid of the coffin, through his blurred vision he could see a blotch of black. As he wiped his pained eyes and squinted it became a man sitting on the edge, leaning over to watch him where the crow had been.

"Remember?" He said faintly, and it might have been a question or a direction.

* * *

Link opened his eyes to the rising sun.

He groaned, squinted them shut a moment, then forced himself to roll over and get to his feet. Sheik was gazing at the trees with a sort of dreading expression, like he was looking toward their doom. Link noticed he'd already cleaned up their camp… everything but a bag of dried meats and some utensils were packed. "Anything I should know about?" his wondering tone cut into Sheik's reverie. (Reverie being used sarcastically, here. Saria would be proud.)

"Think quickly, move carefully, and don't hesitate." Sheik replied after shaking his head. A frown curved his lips. "… how hungry are you?"

"Why?"

"I'm weighing the pros and cons of eating."

"We should just get this over with." Link muttered, because he was pretty sure Sheik was going to blurt out something like 'never mind I'll go alone' if they waited any longer. "We can eat on the way if we're hungry." He added when Sheik looked ready to argue.

"Alright. Let's go." He muttered, and put away the last of their things.

They slipped through the green pines to a well-hidden path and continued on an upward curve. Somewhere above their heads there was the sound of faint singing, a high voice that wavered between the tones of a woman and a bird. Link canted his head to listen, making a noise of pleasure as the melody washed over his ears. Sheik glanced back at him. "Can you… hear something?" He wondered, and Link nodded with a smile. Sheik grabbed him – successfully breaking the strange lull – and made him walk on his inside, closer to the wall of stone that towered over them. "We're almost there." He said, and then, "That's a siren you're hearing."

'A siren?' Link had begun to ask, when the singing cut out. Everything seemed to freeze around them… they kept walking in the unnatural silence until they hit a clearing and on a cliff above their heads filled with verdant green flora, the bushes shifted. Sheik didn't seem to notice, and kept going when Link paused. The bushes kept moving anyway… more and more until it was clear something quite large was behind them, not the rabbit or guay Link had been expecting. From within the branches… Link couldn't believe his eyes, but when he blinked and pressed his hands to them before looking again, it was most certainly an iron knuckle that had emerged. Its armor was half gone, and its helmet strange… a pyramid with one corner elongated in front of where its face should be, to a dramatic and sinister point. It simply stood there watching him. Link stared back until he realized it wouldn't move again… he hurried on, aware of the eyeless gaze on his back.

Sheik was waiting beyond the trees – the end had been near to them, and now they stood on a dusty road that led into a crack in the mountain. Link trotted up to his side, and then saw what Sheik was staring at. In the noon day sun, beside a forest under an overhang and a gently flowing waterfall, there was a house surrounded by lanterns.

* * *

Midna sighed, arching her back until she heard a satisfying _pop_. She stretched her body out like a cat a moment before slipping through the shadows, and asking a guard to take her through the darkest route to Zelda. He glanced at her a moment and nodded his head.

She looked him over as they walked. His skin was pale and his hair was brown, but from the confidence he exuded as he led her, Midna couldn't help but think it was an illusion… Link and Zelda were the only hylians she'd met that would skulk through shadows so fearlessly. One had lived in twilight and darkness for seven years… the other she didn't know about just yet, besides him being enamored with a living shadow. And that was fine.

With ears like hers, it wouldn't take long to discover the truth. She was good at waiting.

Another thing she noticed was the guard never opened his eyes. Rather strange.

Zelda was settled behind a desk in a dark study. The candles were still wet and warm looking – Midna got the idea she had been waiting for her. Sheik had left three days ago and they hadn't received any letters yet to tell where he was or what he was doing there. Personally, Midna had never met the mountain guardians, so she couldn't say if they were the types to hold him up. She travelled to Tot through the Hell Gate and ripped open the darkness to arrive in Hyrule. She'd walked from Tot only once, but had passed through the demon's valley without so much as a glance at the supposed nightmare beasts. She'd met the guards on the gates of Tot, but apparently they weren't the same thing… Demons, supposedly, were on a whole other level as fighters.

As for the guardian himself… he was supposedly a sheikah.

Zelda sighed, canted her head and placed her cheek in her hand, and regarded Midna with sleepy eyes. They slid to the guard for a moment. "Thank you, Sir Horwell. You are dismissed."

"My lady." He inclined his head to her, ever-present smile unfading, and stepped out the door. He stepped quietly, Midna noticed. Not perfectly silent, but soft enough to startle the inattentive. He was a strange man.

"And how are you, my little queen?" Midna asked in a purr, leaning over Zelda with the least respectful smile to ever be directed by a friend instead of enemies. Zelda turned her head to stare up at her and smiled.

"I'm very tired." She confided, "But I can't go to sleep." Midna decided then that standing was for peasants – Zelda sensed the changed and with hurried movements swept her papers, quill and inkwell out of the way, a wise move. A moment after Midna had hopped onto her desk. She crossed her legs at the knees, leaned back and looked far too comfortable.

"Worried about Sheik?"

"A little. I'm wondering what's happening up north…" Zelda shook her head, "Although I know, he won't let them down… I'm hoping against the odds that Link caught him and tagged along, too."

"The beast-like one?" Midna asked. Zelda looked at her strangely, but she always looked at her like that.

A slow nod. "Yes. He's a bit… startling, when you first meet him I suppose. But he's a kind person… and he keeps Sheik's darker thoughts in check."

Midna thought about that. "… good. Now, what's all this?" She gestured to the pages that Zelda had swiped out of her path a few moments before.

"Paperwork." Zelda replied with an irritated gleam in her eyes when she too gazed on them. Midna grinned.

"That's boring. Come on. We have a lost evening to make up for." With that she leapt from the desk, grabbed Zelda by the wrist, and pulled the young woman out.

The half-signed papers remained on the desk, including a new but unopened letter with the face of a Keaton drawn on it.

* * *

Between the house and the pond at the bottom of the narrow falls, there was a large flat rock that stretched halfway into the water. Some scattered candles and various types of lanterns sat on the edge by the shore, just the same as the porch and stones around it. Out on the edge of the stone in the water, there was a large fluffy lump.

_What on earth…?_

Honestly, it looked like a tail. And the moment they stepped from the dusty path to the soft green grass, it twitched. The tip was as dark as if it'd been dipped in an inkwell, and the wave-like motion that travelled through it reminded of rivers, or perhaps a serpent.

Two ears tipped like the tail appeared over it next, and then a head of blue hair with drowsy eyes blinking at them.

For a while no one moved.

"… Sheik?" The strange person muttered, squinting as though he couldn't figure out what he was seeing or why. He sat up, revealing an otherwise human body. The great fluffy tail coiled around his lap. Eyes the unnerving amber of a fox's switched between Sheik and Link as though he knew what he was seeing, but simply couldn't believe it. "You brought a hylian up here?" He asked with flat-out surprise, and slid down from the stone to trot through the water – shouldn't it be icy? – to the shore, and then over to them. He was barefoot.

Sheik took a step forward so he was between Link and the new man, locking gazes with Link a second in passing. "Kers." He said, turning his eye back to the perhaps-human as he said it, "This is Link. He is a trusted companion." Red slipped back to Link. "Link. This is Kers. He owns the lantern house."

"That's a rather cold way of introducing me," Kers muttered but a grin had slipped onto his face, and Link supposed he knew Sheik's habit of understating and obfuscating. His dancing eyes turned back to Link. "Pleasure to meet you." He murmured, in a purring expectant tone that boded well for no one. "We'll be getting this over with first, of course." Kers added, glancing to a strangely pale Sheik. In returned he nodded. The smile didn't leave Ker's lips, but it did slip a little. "I'm looking forward to it, if you brought him… Alright. Well… that one is out at the moment, so you should get ready."

"Of course." Sheik conceded, "Thank you." He took Link's arm and pulled him toward the spring. "Drink some of this," He murmured, heedless of the yellow eyes on their backs, "and be ready."

"What's going on?" Link muttered back. Sheik pressed his lips together and shook his head, gesturing once more to the spring.

Link knelt and took the water to his lips – there was something faintly sweet in it, like honey or mint had been added. He took another sip and stared at his reflection in the shade and ripples… it really was strange. Before he could decide why, Kers laughed.

Link got the idea that Kers didn't laugh unless someone was hurting. "It's back~" He called out in a voice both sweet and mocking, and Sheik whipped around so Link got the impression this, whatever this was, was really bad. When he turned, the iron knuckle from the forest was standing in the clearing. From his perch on another boulder, Kers beckoned for them. "I hope you're right!" He called to Sheik, suddenly all serious with narrowed eyes and a frown on his lips. His tone switched from cheerful to foreboding as easy as snuffing a candle. "You know you can't help him." Link turned a glance back to Sheik, who was scowling at the dirt.

An iron knuckle in half its armor… Link bit back a smile, shaking his head. He grabbed Sheik's shoulder long enough to murmur 'you know I'll be fine, right?' before he stepped up.

He drew his sword out – this iron knuckle wasn't sleeping like any he'd fought before, and it wielded what looked like an oversized cooking knife instead of an axe. And it didn't hesitate before it lunged at him, so he had to cut his analysis short.

Link dodged to the side and started – _that _was quicker than his body remembered. Speed differed between monsters, but not like that, that was too much– it turned a neat pivot and brought the blade to stab him again. He ducked around and tried for its side with his sword. Instead of taking a hit to the chainmail it wore, it dodged him and spun so the sharp and horrible blade went flying toward him again. Link leapt back in time to have the front of his tunic sliced open. His eyes narrowed – _this thing is messed up! What on earth-? – _and underneath his tunic, the pendant swung. For a second he saw red as it flashed through the slice of his clothes in the sun.

The beast eyed him a moment before moving like it would strike at him again, and Link began to circle…

"Wait!" The shout broke both of their concentrations, and to Link's immense relief the monster stopped to look, so he could too. Their gazes fell on the same place; Kers had leapt up, a sharp and not-at-all sane look in his eyes. A slow and certainly insane smile stole over his lips, a million times more horrible than the ones Link had seen before. "I changed my mind." He purred toward the confused creature, ignoring Link entirely, "I want to test him myself." When the monster didn't move, yellow eyes widened and Kers snarled, "_Down_, Sanguine!" looking more beast than human.

And the monster… stepped down. He lowered his blade and skulked off toward where Sheik was waiting - with a look of dawning horror. Link wondered what fresh hell he'd stumbled into.

Kers slid into the arena – a circle of earth surrounded by the soft green grass - and his fingers _flickered_ and became talons of onyx, reaching out for Link's throat in a bizarre beckon.

Link chanced a look to the side, where Sheik had begun swearing at Kers, all sorts of horrible things he would do if Link was hurt. (Kers didn't pay him any mind.) Then Link's eyes slowly turned to the monster watching them (well, he thought. The mask made it hard to really know) and he decided, _why not._ "… well, since I'm apparently trading up, any advice?" He asked it without expecting any true answer.

But… serendipity, you know? Deep rumbling came back to him, muffled like a voice from the bottom of a well. "Yeah." It chuckled, slight echoes following from inside the helmet "Get ready. This is gonna hurt."

Link's eyes became huge. _This thing is messed up. _

Kers rushed him then, and he had to stop staring. He really had bigger things to worry about.

His body swerved under the claws the begged to cleave apart his face, and he lunged for the demon's midsection. Kers howled with laughter and danced around him before lunging again.

This was going to be a long day.

* * *

**(chapter end)**

**For those of you who didn't guess, yes, the iron knuckle's helmet is pyramid head's. Pyramid head is from silent hill and is copyrighted to the company that produced it, not me. Or I'd be rich and working on dark demon yaoi games. Which obviously and (thankfully) sadly, I'm not. Damn.**

**Anyway... while the associations of pyramid head are less than pleasant, it worked. Because of that actually. **

**Kers is definitely mine though. He decided to help me out in here, and who am I to protest? He never helps!**


	15. It really was a lovely sound

So. This chapter gave me SO MANY PROBLEMS. I want to get it out on the 17th or 18th, but I'm worried it's going to be like 'nope!' (I'm editing as I write this) So… we'll see. Everybody please enjoy and maybe refrain from killing me? And don't pick fights with Kers even if he pisses you off, please. He's mean and he'll do _things_ to your organs…

Also, rant time: the computer I paint on is fucked up. Yesterday it was acting funny until finally it just kind of said 'f u' and shut down. Well, I left it a few hours and turned it back on, and it said 'no drivers' and gave me a black screen after loading. Fffffffuuuu- *HEADDESKS while cursing virulently*

**Review responses:**

CottonCandyHaze: … I STILL haven't replied to your review. I'm so sorry TT^TT It's just so long and I don't even know where to begin and I'm so LAZY…

shugo sora: I am a troll. Check chapter… 4's (?) review responses, I told Trolly's Bara-chan the same thing.

Trolly's Bara-chan: Belial's being naaaughty. He keeps coming up with these stripper-riffic poses and I want to paint them, but I can't. Grrr.

SophieSynthetic: … really? Wow. Thank you very much~

CakeStealer: Thank you! I wish they'd choose when they're going to, honestly...

(Side note: Kers and Sanguine are definitely mine, and just helping out because I needed some 'morally ambiguous' roles filled.) Alright, so, sorry for the almost-month long wait. Reviews make me write faster, usually~.

Oh! and before I forget, if anyone is curious as to what Iblis looks like, I finally got around to painting him! Remove the spaces, and here you go: kurotorasempai. deviantart. com/art/Iblis-portrait-285253624

**Chapter 15: It really was a lovely sound (The siren's song rising up from depths of suffering)**

* * *

Blades sung across his skin, followed by a face with a demon's grin. The fox danced around him like the wind in the trees, quicker than any lizalfos, more brutal than any moblin. The ebon talons that grasped for Link's throat in a flurry of dark swipes were touched with shiny red blood, and through the blue-black-crimson blur he could see the edge of the arena where the monster and Sheik stood unmoving side by side.

Ah, Sheik. When this was all over, Link expected a very real, very long explanation from him. He hissed when a claw slid through his tunic and then grazed his shoulder, flaying the skin easily. He felt warm blood slide over his shoulder and soak into his clothes. Already injured (and assured the ruination of his tunic) he took the opportunity to lunge, knocking his forehead into Kers's nose and his fist in his solar plexus. A startled laugh bubbled up in answer to him – the free hand came around to grasp at his back and hold him still when he tried to pull away – and Kers's bloody nose and grinning face greeted him, feral and ferocious. Link punched him again.

The fox ducked under it and slammed into him with all of his weight, which was much, much more than appeared possible, or should even be legal for someone his size. He struck the blunt backsides of his fingers against Link's side and _damn _they were hard, like rods of metal, and Link though he heard something crack and then Kers was on him and they were tumbling over and over, sharp claws nicking flesh and stabbing the ground in near misses that would horrify Link later. Kers caught his wrist in one hand and Link choked and screamed when he tried to wrench it free, too hard – when Kers let go the hand was limp and useless. He struck out for everything in reach as best he could, one fist flailing, legs thrashing and whole body writhing in the kicked-up earth. Kers managed to pin him and laughed, one hand holding down Link's shoulder and the other raised to strike – he was going to reach in and rip out his damn heart. If Link didn't get this madman off of him, he would- _die- _he pulled a knife from his tunic, the one he'd been carving with the other night, and sunk it into Kers's side. Yellow eyes widened, the bladed-fingers stilled and halted their descent.

The wound was small… probably didn't even hit anything important. But the intent was there, along with the blood that trickled down and _plunked _against Link's tunic while his chest heaved and his wide eyes stayed fixed on where cold metal was sunk into soft flesh…

Link kicked up and Kers rolled off, lying on the ground and regarding him with something between subservience and amusement when Link leapt up and caught his wrists. Next he forced his foot into an awkward position to pin them down, and removed the carving knife with his good hand to hold it to Ker's throat.

"I win." He said slowly, like he was testing the waters.

"You win." Kers concurred, an amused smirk sliding over his lips. "Congratulations. Now, unless you're planning on finishing the job…" He shifted his hips, and Link realized with a horrible flush that _death _wasn't necessarily what Kers had intended to mean, "Please remove yourself."

After what he had just felt, Link did so very quickly.

He ran back to Sheik, bleeding and a little bruised, face red, and his side and wrist throbbing. Kers sat up and rubbed the back of his head where it had struck the ground with a thoughtful expression.

"Bandages are inside. You know the place." He called over almost absently, and Link saw the monster trotting over to the arena as Sheik drew him by the arm into the house.

The interior was all dark wood and rich colors. Link didn't know if it would be considered nice or not, but it definitely felt like a place shadows resided. Sheik gestured towards a stool before dropping to his knees in front of a cabinet, opening it to rifle around a few moments before he removed a box… He carried that over and sat it down beside the stool. "Please sit down." Link did. His mind was cheerfully demanding answers, _now, _but he should probably wait until Sheik decided he wasn't capable of bandaging himself, and so couldn't escape on that premise. The box was opened to reveal bandages, potions and a bottle of strong liquor. Sheik sighed and slumped over a moment.

"… going to _kill _that bastard…" Link heard him mutter, before he looked up. Red eyes gleamed in anger for a second before they became soft and kind and almost-hurt.

"I wanted to tell you." Sheik muttered, "And I'm sorry. He wasn't supposed to fight you…" His voice was filled with bone-deep aching, and Link felt his heart pull in sympathetic answer to the broken look on his face.

"Kind of figured. I was supposed to fight the other one, right?... why didn't you tell me?" Link tucked his head down with a sigh. He wasn't mad. He was damn happy to be alive.

Sheik didn't see it that way. "Not allowed. Hylians aren't allowed in Tot unless they can pass the guardians, and we're not allowed to tell any who would try – they might prepare themselves. The point is your unprepared skill. Only the spring water is given, as a show of good will; they've also drank of it."

Link nodded. "And… what did I just fight?" Sheik glanced at him.

"That would be a demon~" Kers called, sounding remarkably bored, as he stepped inside. His eyes flicked to Sheik. "I dislocated the wrist and there's going to be a lot of bruising along with the swelling. He also has a rib on the left side cracked." That said, he passed them and went through a dark doorway, disappearing from their senses. He had still been bleeding.

Sheik let out a long, aggravated string of words in a language Link didn't know. (The vitriol suggested curses, though.)

"… okay. Um, Sheik, could you maybe…?"

Sheik's eyes flicked back to him as he went silent. His gaze was calculating. "… bite this towel."

"Thank you."

* * *

Link frowned, rotating his hand on the wrist he'd had fixed. Sheik scowled and smacked his elbow to make him stop. "Leave it. I don't want you to mess it up again."

"But…"

"_Leave it_." And then Sheik glared at him, so needless to say he won. Link pouted and returned to staring out the window. Sheik had healed the rib, too, but Link had to be gentle because 'I'm not so skilled at healing bones.' Link was impressed he could at all. Zelda had probably taught him.

"Are you willing to _not_ kill me?" Kers wondered from the doorway. Sheik turned to glare at him. Kers blinked. "Alright, that's a no. Anyway… uh, you two aren't going any further at the moment, and he looks the type to get bored easy. Why don't you go out a while? The tree is heavy with fruit…"

Link had no idea why that would entice Sheik into leaving a state of homicidal intent, but he was sold on the idea of going outside again. So he turned an inquiring look to Sheik (read: pouted with large, glistening-with-tears-eyes) and Sheik made a noise. He nodded to Kers. "That sounds like a good idea, actually. Link?" Link stood up and followed him out, careful to keep a fair distance from Kers, who only laughed at Sheik's coldness and disappeared into the dark corridors of the house once more.

Link could hear the beautiful-eerie singing from before, loud and clear like church bells. Sheik wandered toward the little wood across from the lantern house and Link followed him, admiring the landscape. The monster was nowhere to be found once more.

They slid between autumn colored trees and scattered evergreens to a clearing just before a cliff, overlooking the path they'd used to reach the valley on their way up the mountain. A green tree on the west side of the clearing that didn't reach particularly high – it was perhaps twice their heights, and dwarfed by the other foliage – was heavy with shining vermillion-red fruit.

"How does your side feel?" Sheik broke into his thoughts with an inquiring but almost clinical tone. Link smiled.

"It feels great. Thank you again, Sheik." His smile widened and he canted his head, and Sheik's eyes grew a touch wider. He stared a moment before shaking his head, mumbling something like 'it's nothing' and stepping over the tree to pluck a swollen berry from the drooping branches. It was the size of his whole hand. Apparently oblivious to Link's curious stare he dug his nails into the flesh until it split, pulling it back and tossing the pieces to the ground. The inside of the fruit was filled with tiny garnet drops like crystals or frozen wine… They reminded him of the amulet around his neck, and as he continued to watch Sheik carefully pulled one from the white core before popping it into his mouth. It was… it looked like a tiny grape, almost.

He finally seemed to remember Link then, glancing back to him. "… have you had one?" He wondered, eyebrow arching. Link thought that the expression of confusion and curiosity on his face probably answered that, but he humored Sheik by shaking his head anyway.

"No."

"… oh." Sheik's expression was musing, "That's too bad." And he held out the fruit to Link. "Just eat the seeds."

They were… seeds? Link blinked at him and took the fruit, trying to pick one out like Sheik had. He figured out very quickly that the seeds didn't take to being squeezed. Sticky purple-red juice oozed over his fingertips, and Sheik stifled a laugh as he scowled and tried again with similar results. On his third attempt he worked a seed off without it exploding, and pressed it to his lips, swiping his tongue over his fingertips to clean off some of the juice that had dried on them. The bloody fruit was sweet with a hint of citrus, but not overly so… "Good, right?" Sheik wondered, and was rewarded with a happy nod. He chuckled and stepped close enough to Link to take another seed, eating it with a happy noise. "We can't get these in the castle. It's a terrible shame."

Link blinked at him and tried to eat another seed, and managed to get the juice smeared over his mouth this time. Sheik laughed while he grumbled about it, leaning closer to him. "Hold still," He ordered, before swiping his thumb over Link's bottom lip. Link froze, and Sheik pulled back to lick the collected juice from his finger. "That was delicious," He said happily, and there might've been a slightly more evil touch to his grin when Link flushed bright red.

"… hey, Sheik… you know that you're… really important to me, right…?" Sheik gave pause, meeting Link's gaze and canting his head ever-so-slightly.

"I care very much for you as well, Link. Is something the matter?"

Link faltered and smiled, so he became the image of sheepish. "No, I just… wanted to make sure you knew." Sheik smiled back at him, leaning forward to pluck another seed from the pomegranate. He pressed it to Link's lips.

"That means more than you know." Sheik murmured, a serene smile on his face that made Link turn redder than the fruit between them, and the finger pressing a seed of it to his lips. He opened his mouth, blushing bright when Sheik's fingertips went in with the seed so his mouth brushed over them as he closed it, but Sheik didn't seem to notice. He stretched and wandered over to the northeast part of the clearing. "The moon will be beautiful tonight." He predicted softly, gesturing to the Lune which seemed far closer than it ever had before, and Link remembered the grinning face with a trace of fright. His face burned brighter as he looked up at the celestial body. The inquiry seemed innocent, and Sheik had mentioned before how much he'd loved the moon…

_He's also called _you_ the moon, _some voice that sounded like his memory intruded on his thoughts, and Link choked.

He stepped away from Sheik and began looking around the plants, wishing for the heat in his face to disappear. The temperature dropped quite a bit as the day wore on, and the mountain winds howled above them. Time disappeared until dusk, when they saw snowflakes drifting against the setting sun. Ice and fire… Link looked up and saw the shadow of a great cloud above the mountain.

Sheik sighed his appreciation, but from the glances he gave to the heavens Link realized he was worried about what that cloud meant.

When the last touches of red were lingering on the horizon they headed back to the house. The many lanterns and candles were lit, glowing softly in the half-dead dusk. Link noticed there was a poe's lantern among them, as well. And after that he could almost swear he saw faces trapped against the glass in the flames…

Sheik stepped inside and Link followed without a word, and Kers poked his head into the entry room to stare at them.

"… dinner." He said, and pulled back. Sheik cast an inquiring look at Link before sliding into the room Kers had come from.

A plate of steaming meat was placed in the center of the table along with 'less important things like greens and bread', as Kers would later describe it. The fox-man nudged them into chairs and set plates before them with servings of sliced meat on them, and told them to take more if they wished. He sat down and made a plate for himself and began eating.

Sheik patted Link's arm and murmured something he couldn't hear about table manners, but he got the gist when Kers tore into his meal like a hound. _'Don't worry' _indeed. And why should he?

* * *

Link stretched his arms over his head, gazing to the heavens. The moon was waxing, a silver crescent in a blue-velvet sky. He didn't know if it was an aberration or a decoration, but it hung there in the night alongside the stars. A voice carried over the demon's valley, strong and pleasing and a little dark, like sweets garnished with the taste of copper or rubies colored blood-red. As he stepped around the bright glow of all the lanterns he heard beneath the voice the sound of water, so he wandered to the shore of the little spring. When he looked up he saw, silhouetted against the deep and shimmering night, a man perched on the edge of the roof. He was grinning at the stars and singing to the sky, and he looked terribly happy for singing such a terribly tragic song.

"Broken wings and shiny things, a song that doesn't matter, a tale for you and only you, until the nighttime shatters… In their evening rain of arrows, the birds had come undone…" He trailed off a moment, took in a breath, while Link's heart raced.

"… Broken and begging and nowhere to run…." He finished faintly, wide eyes regarding the man on the edge of the roof. Dark eyes flickered to him, and the man canted his head.

"Now where did you learn something like that?" He wondered, his voice clear in the quiet night, and just as smooth as when he sung. It made Link uneasy.

"… you taught me." Link murmured, gazing on the sharp-soft face of the draugr, but he knew this wasn't a dream. Nightmares seemed to steal sweet faces to appear in their world. He wondered if it was an illusion, if the real expression was a fearsome and terrible thing.

The dark eyes widened. "How could I have done that?" He wondered, and stood up to jump down from the roof top. The graceful motions of a cat… He landed softly and wandered over to Link, moving unlike any living-corpse Link had before seen. When he spoke, fangs gleamed under the pale moon's sliver. He frowned and canted his head at Link. "We've never met, right?"

"… no. In a dream." Link admitted slowly, and realized how utterly insane that sounded. The draugr certainly looked surprised.

In a moment, a smile spread over his lips, and his eyes went half lidded. "Oh, I see. Poor kid." He stepped around Link, looking him over and circling like a wolfos. "_That's_ why Kers wanted to fight you… you're the one with the amulet." Sharp fingers swept over Link's collarbone and he jumped, but they didn't touch. Just lingered there a moment over the hidden chain. "You understand, don't you?"

_Not really. _The draugr laughed at his expression, or he assumed that's why he was laughing anyway…

"You like music?" He asked Link, an easy-going smile lightening his face enough to make him seem kind. Slowly, Link nodded. The draugr canted his head to him, pulling a black flute out of thin air. "Won't you play a duet with me? I'm sure your voice can reach the heavens, if you don't have an instrument to play…"

… _That's better_. Link pulled out his ocarina and smiled.

* * *

Notes flowed out from the valley, soothing the ones who stirred back to dreams. A siren cooed and ruffled her feathers, sinking lower in her nest, while a young girl standing at the top end of a mountain trail sat down and shut her eyes to listen to the song.

Link and the draugr were settled on the ends of the roof, playing a new melody… the 'The ballad of the Goddess', the draugr had called it. They moved on to the middle and the song grew lively, echoing and sweet… a lull and then it picked up once more… more and more at the end until it finished with a flourish. A pretty song, though perhaps not appropriate for a lullaby. The opening had let the world sleep…

After their impromptu duet ended, the draugr came and sat beside him on the rooftop, far enough for comfort but close enough to speak, and they stared up at the crescent moon. "You know… seeing you two together is odd." He mumbled, and Link slanted him a glance. "You and Sheik, I mean." _Duh_. "I'm not sure how to put it… he acts differently."

"Sheik is strange." Link settled on, and glanced away from him a second. "He called me the moon, once." He offered as an example, again gazing at the lunar body.

"… You don't sound very excited." The draugr observed, watching Link's face instead of the sky. (He could stargaze later.)

Link sent him a look as though he was the strange one (and he was. Human eating monsters weren't supposed to be so calm and friendly). "Why would I be excited about that?"

He stiffened, back going perfectly straight. "You don't… know what it means?" He asked with blatant disbelief coloring his voice and features, like he'd just seen a yellow and purple-polka-dotted leever fly by. Link shook his head.

_I suppose I should, though. _He reflected while watching the draugr's face screw up in dumbfounded, borderline-exasperated astonishment.

For a little while, he just stared at Link. "The moon is said to be the only light sheikah need. To… exist, to stay sane." He settled on finally, narrowing his eyes and looking away - up at the celestial in question. This time, Link stayed watching _his_ face. "Saying someone is the moon is like saying you can't live without them." The draugr added in a mutter, looking contemplative.

After a moment Link found he had to quell the frantic, too-loud beating of his heart.

* * *

At midnight Link slipped off the roof and wandered back inside. He'd been watching the moon for too long, remembering that it wasn't a vision of nightmares to everyone… the draugr bade him goodnight, and continued to gaze up at the stars. Link wondered what he was seeing.

Sheik glanced up from the parchment in his hands when Link walked in, canting his head and smiling faintly. Link flushed and nodded back, looking away as soon as he thought he could manage. At the corner of his eye the faint smile on Sheik's lips turned into a concerned frown, but Kers danced in and shattered whatever might've occurred.

"Right, so I think I got all the knives from your room~." The man laughed, stepping over to Sheik, and Link realized the fox could probably pass himself off as a woman. He didn't even have to shut his mouth, just put on a skirt. _And… perhaps a looser bodice, _Link thought, eyeing the outlines of sinuous muscle underneath the man's clothing. He supposed the tight clothes were a cultural thing, like how the kokiri wore green and zoras wore seashells, and hylian nobles wore ridiculous layers of glittery crap. And he could understand that. Something to do with the available materials.

When he zoned back in again, Sheik was talking. "I have a room?" He asked Kers, eyebrows up.

"Yes, yes you do. One you'll be sharing, as we weren't expecting two of you… And I trust you won't be doing anything… untoward in it, but if you do please clean up."

Quizzical, Sheik regarded the fox. Actually, he seemed outright befuddled. "And what sort of untoward things would I be doing?"

Kers gave a slow, almost-as-confused-as-Sheik (or 'are you being a smartass and I'm just missing it?') blink. He glanced towards Link, gaze lingering a moment very meaningfully, then returned to Sheik.

Sheik took a moment to catch up with his implications. "What? No! Kers!"

Kers looked just as taken aback. "What do you mean, no? What have you been up to?"

"Nothing!"

"Oh we both know _that's _not true." Kers muttered, slanting Link another glance with narrowed eyes. He looked calculating. (Link was worried.) Sheik flushed and looked off, away from either of them. His hair covered most of his face again… "Well… you'll have to share for tonight. I hope that's fine. Sanguine and I will check out the path tonight and see about opening the gates. Alright?" He glanced at Link as he said it and Link murmured an affirmative, so then Kers's eyes returned to Sheik. Without returning the look, Sheik gave a slow, grudging nod. A noise of satisfaction, and then Kers left the room again.

Link remembered Sanguine as the monster that had almost fought him… strange. Everything here was, of course.

"Enjoy your time, Link?" Sheik wondered, and Link jolted out of his musings.

"Er… yeah. It's really nice out tonight." He smiled – a little awkward – and scratched the back of his head. "It's warmer here than it was on the trails up. I guess because of the stone and trees blocking the wind, huh…?"

"And catching the heat." Sheik nodded. Link nodded back, though he wasn't sure why, and didn't know what else to say. They each sat there, gazing at each other in the lingering silence. Again, Sheik was the one to break it.

He stood and said, "If you're ready… we can go to sleep."

Throat dry, Link nodded. "Yeah."

* * *

"… I'm worried."

"What?"

"That I'm too late. It's just… what's going to happen? If I don't find who or whatever it is Iblis needs me to find. I don't know how you're so calm about it, either…" About a half hour had passed. Link had spent that time doing far too much thinking, not just about Sheik but about _everything._

"Simple." Sheik murmured, stretched out on the blankets of the second bed, "I will not die by some bright light. And, well…" He paused a moment to slant a smile in Link's direction. "I believe in you. You said you would find and stop them, so you will come through in the end." Link frowned back at him, pushing up on his elbows to argue from a slightly higher vantage point. It didn't go unnoticed, and now Sheik looked amused. "How do you know that?"

"I don't. But I feel like you will, and… I don't think I could say that about anyone else… it's you, Link. It's always been you."

Link stared. "… that made no sense."

"Yes, well, I'm tired and so are you, so that's probably why. You should go to sleep."

"No."

Link shifted. Sheik rolled over onto his stomach and stared ahead of himself, head on his arms, focused on the wall.

"… with everything that's happened… I'm worried someone's trying to take over, too."

"They probably are." Sheik clicked his tongue, sounding casual and quite worn out, "I would die before I let that happen, you know." He added in a sleepy murmur. Link nodded once from his own bed.

"Yeah, I know. You'd die for Zelda." _Period. Take-over's or sickness or magic. You'd do anything. _

"Not just for Zelda. For you, too." Sheik told him, half-asleep red eyes on his.

Link felt his breath catch in his throat. Frozen in that second, there was something like happiness, and also something very bitter in his heart… "But I don't want you to die. Can't you live instead?" He half-begged, because just the thought was enough to make him cringe and hide his head. He didn't want to lose anyone else. He didn't… Sheik only laughed. Link went on regardless, "Because I'm the hero, right? If anyone dies then it's supposed to be me…"And really, he was starting to sound quite desperate…

A sleep-hazy smile was sent his way. "Sometimes people die," Sheik began softly, nuzzling his pillow as he got comfortable, "for the hero." And then he closed his eyes and fell to sleep.

After a moment of staring, Link blew out the candle.

_You are the moon. _Willing to die…

He stared through the darkness a moment more before he closed his eyes. His heart hurt.

* * *

When Link woke up (from a blissfully dreamless sleep), he realized he was much, much colder than before. The room was still roughly the color of pitch, or perhaps the shadow temple's darkest depths… he let out a whimper and shivered, and heard cloth rustle in the darkness.

"What is it?" Sheik's voice murmured, and Link felt heat from beside the bed. He nuzzled closer and sighed.

"Cold. What time is it?"

"… probably about three." He muttered, and jolted when Link grabbed him. "What?... you _are_ cold." Link frowned and pulled until a bewildered Sheik was on the bed beside him. He cuddled up and sighed.

"You're warm. Can you sleep now?"

A few minutes later, a still stunned-sounding Sheik spoke up, "… yeah…" Link tucked his head down against his shoulder and went back to sleep. Sheik pulled the blanket Link had kicked off back over them, staring blankly ahead in the dark. It took a while to get used to being pressed so close… when he did he closed his eyes and slept again.

* * *

"-Their scents are _all over _each other, Sanguine, the hell else would they have been up to?"

His partner paused. "… all over?" He echoed softly, looking back with one eyebrow raised. Kers nodded. "… Wonder if Impa knows." And he went back to clearing the path. His helmet was discarded beside a tombstone, and a freshly turned grave.

Kers shrugged. "I don't see how she couldn't. It's not exactly easy to sneak off enough for… well, with Impa it's not easy to sneak off for any length of time at all. I guess it depends on how slack the leash is."

Sanguine shrugged, rearranging the pieces of a sliding puzzle once hidden behind a boulder. "Why'd you take such an interest in the hylian, anyway?"

"Sheik brought him here." Kers returned immediately. Sanguine cocked his head, but didn't look up from the puzzle. His eyes traced the paths of the pieces in a catlike, meticulous manner.

"You know what I mean." He murmured, making a satisfied noise when the pieces clicked and sunk in, and a low grumble shook the valley walls.

Kers smiled – dry, exasperated – and glanced away. "Right. You couldn't see it. The amulet around his neck…" Sanguine stood up and took long strides over the path curving up the mountain, out to a higher road.

"Yeah? An amulet."

"_The_ amulet." Kers corrected faintly, moving to his side. They wandered up the path, Sanguine hissing at the wind and Kers stepping closer to curve his tails around them both.

"… interesting." Sanguine murmured, surprise and intrigue bleeding together. They rounded the last curve before the valley walls ended, and he narrowed his eyes. "Say, Kers…" He trailed off whatever he had planned when they reached the end of the path.

The staring went on for a while, but the first to recover was Kers. He made a noise in the back of his throat. "… Well, about that." He gestured ahead of them, "What do you want to tell them?"

"… about the wall of snow and sleet? Really, you're asking me?"

"Damn." Kers whistled. It was drowned out by the wailing wind.

* * *

The world was hazy. There was a rose tint to blond and tan, colors he didn't even he realize he was seeing at first. Semi-consciousness came in midst of foggy pleasure. As he gradually became aware, the feeling was spreading from below his hips… something was rubbing him, a thigh or knee perhaps… he shuddered and let out a low moan, and an equally sleepy and appreciative groan answered him back.

He mewled and squirmed, trying to decide if he should rise from the land between reality and sleep to understand what was happening, or to lay back and appreciate the haze of pleasure. Every motion made his breath grow more shallow, and every quickened breath seemed to encourage the motions… he let out a wanting keen and suddenly everything stopped. The pleasure was replaced by simple desire while his breathing began to calm. The warmth he was pressed so intimately against had frozen.

He shook his head and squirmed, accidentally brushing himself against the now-still leg (he moaned) as he tried to drag himself into the realm of 'slightly-more-aware', and heard someone else's breath catch. _What…?_

He groaned and blinked, trying to remember why exactly rose-tinted gold and tan were strange. The gold looked like… hair and the tan was skin so… oh. Oh dear.

"Sheik?" Link squeaked. Then Sheik shifted, Link's mind clouded and all he could let out was a keening moan, desire incarnate. He squirmed.

And damn it all, but Sheik _groaned. _Whatever the hell was happening, he was… he was enjoying it, too. Link flushed and wondered if _this_ coiled up feeling was what Malon had been telling him about, and it probably was. She mentioned something about heat and…

"Link." Sheik's voice sounded strained. "Are you…?" His leg shifted again, and Link let out a keen. Sheik shuddered. "You _are._" He murmured, sounding completely shell-shocked. "… goddesses, I don't know what I was doing, I'm so sorry-" He started trying to detangle himself from a terribly confused Link, only seeming to succeed in making him gasp and moan louder. Link grabbed his shoulders after a particularly unfortunate brush, burying his face – and moan – into Sheik's chest. He lay there shuddering while Sheik was frozen, eyes wide in horror and perhaps arousal, and oh goddesses he could _smell _Link's own desire and he wanted…

"S-Sheik…" _Fuck._

Sheik hated his life so, so much.

* * *

Kers was laughing at him. While this wasn't exactly abnormal – Kers seemed to be laughing at him whenever he wasn't actively beating him, cursing at him, or arguing with him – it sucked much, much more than usual today. Sheik groaned and buried his head under his hands. About ten minutes ago Sanguine had wandered in, munching on a pomegranate, and sat down to watch the show. Kers hadn't stopped laughing since Sheik had told him.

That had been twenty minutes ago.

Hesitant footsteps creaked just outside the kitchen door, and Link poked his head in. The rest of him followed shortly thereafter. He was flushed and rather intent on the ground, and for all its loveliness there really couldn't be anything interesting found in the grain of the lantern house's floor. And yet he stared. He sat next to Sheik, probably because, like most sane creatures, Kers and Sanguine unnerved him, though he scooted his chair somewhat away from all of them after a mumbled 'sorry' to Sheik. Sheik didn't respond beyond rubbing his forehead against the table, trying to burrow deeper. The table was hard wood and he failed spectacularly. Of course.

He swore under his breath. _Of-fucking-course._

"So… did you sleep well?" Sanguine ventured, which made Kers laugh harder. He threw his head back and Sheik peeked out long enough to watch him tip back and over. The bang startled Link something terrible. On the ground, Kers kept laughing.

"… In the beginning, yes." Sheik grit out, and Link flinched. Sanguine glanced from him, to the collapsed fox and back.

Sheik made a point of not answering. Kers would just blurt it out the moment he recovered himself, the insufferable bastard.

"… right. Well, I should tell you we went up to the pass last night, and you're not going to Tot today."

Link was now paying full attention. Sheik unburied his own head to stare, incredulous and a little pissed. "What?"

"Blizzard. You'll go flying off the mountain, provided the whiteout doesn't have you walk right over the side first." He took another bite of the pomegranate, which looked a little insane and ended up covering his face in the fruit's blood, but considering the man was literally illustrated as an undead bloodthirsty beast in an encyclopedia on the things, he got points for it not being real blood.

Sheik wondered if Link realized the man at the table was the monster from the day before, actually. He looked rather strange without the armor. Kind of friendly, until you saw the fangs… Sheik grimaced and touched his mouth. Fangs.

Sheikah had fangs, to pierce holes in certain… things, and… he'd gotten his used to a steady diet before neglecting it again.

Sanguine noticed. "Need a bite, Sheik?" He grinned at the absolutely filthy look he was given.

Link's focus had been drawn from 'blizzard' by the word 'bite', of course.

"What do you mean?"

"I mean, you know, a bite. Nourishment, a little touch of blood and magic~…" Sheik tried to bury himself under the table again. Kers was still laughing, but he managed to spit something out about 'in the cellar' that made Sheik flinch and try harder at that whole burying himself deal. Link, wide-eyed, regarded Sanguine.

Sanguine was more than happy to toy with his captive audience.

"Well, you see little hero, big bad beasties like the sheikah, we happen to have a certain specific thing we need to keep on living-"

"He already knows this." Sheik groaned, and Sanguine looked pleasantly surprised.

"And doesn't that just make things so much easier?" Kers choked out, recovering from his fit, _finally_. He righted his chair while Sanguine gave Link a considering stare.

"… Right. Well, I'll bet our pretty little Sheik's been starving himself again, hasn't he~?" Sanguine turned his head to leer at Sheik, while Link twitched at the possessive and Kers started whistling something vague and eerie to fill the half-silence that sprung up.

"… go to hell, Sanguine." Link blanched as he remembered someone _else _named Sanguine, and his early-morning state finally let him make the connection.

"Already been there – the devil told me I'm not allowed to go back, and I just don't argue with Luci, you know?"

"I do." Kers chimed helpfully, "But I kind of prefer Sanguine stays here with me." Then he started snickering again. Sheik looked at them both like they were lunatics, which was actually pretty bad when you considered how crazy Sheik would get.

"You just want me to get out of work." Sanguine accused, before turning back to Link with a cheerful grin. "So. Has he been?"

Link drew a blank.

"Starving himself, I mean. When was the last time he bit a hylian?"

"Sanguine!"

"Or killed a monster and ate the corpse."

"Now Sanguine, he said they weren't together, you can't really be expecting that the poor kid would've seen him…"

Link blinked. "At least four days."

Everybody kind of froze. "Since he ate anything like that, that I know of. I'm thinking it has to be four days, but I have trouble remembering sometimes. The last time he drank from a hylian was…" He glanced at Sheik, who was giving the best deer in the headlights look he'd seen to date, "Does the thing with Impa count? That was almost a week ago."

Deer in the headlights, and utterly horrified. Sheik was focused only on him. Link wondered if he'd broken his mind… somehow. He turned to give the other two a glance. Sanguine looked surprised. Kers's eyes were wide, and fixed on Sheik, and a smirk that was either incredibly amused or entirely pissed off was twitching the corner of his mouth.

… oh, crap. He didn't know why he had to be worried beyond those two terrifying demon gazes, but it had to be something horrid. Nothing less warranted those terrible expressions of slow glee and sadism.

"So, Link." Kers tilted his head, the smirk still twitching. "Would I be correct to assume that… Sheik drank your blood?"

"… um…"

"That would be a yes, then." Kers's ears flickered back and forth. Sanguine stood up from the table, wandering around and snatching Sheik up by one arm with an all-too-cheerful 'I want to play the piano. Sheik's going to listen. Please excuse us.' And Link was left with the also unnervingly happy fox.

Except that wasn't a joyous smile. That was an expression full of sharp teeth.

"Biting, huh?... So. What do you know about all that, kid?" Kers ran a hand idly over his side while he spoke, and Link realized it was where he'd stabbed him the day before.

Link winced and told him.

"… Sooo, you get that the whole biting thing's a big deal and… wait, private? Maybe in Castletown…" Kers shook his head, "And Sheik… he's bitten you before. He definitely has. See? You just turned bright red, he did and you're remembering. Don't make that face at me; you're the one who wears his emotions on his sleeve." Kers paused then to make a face back at Link, who sadly wasn't stirred into reality by having (his own) childish antics thrown back at him. "But you don't understand the full cultural significance, I'm sure." Link continued making a face. Kers stuck his tongue out. "So, are you and Sheik together?" Link's eyes went wide and he –dumbfounded – retracted his tongue. Where on _earth_- "Because, you know, that whole biting thing is kind of intimate. 'Kind of' being 'scandalously so'. You'd only bite a lover." At this point Link began sputtering, while Kers kept gleefully crashing through everything that could be considered comfortable in the atmosphere, "And I noticed how your smells mingle, like you've been _all over each other, _and were those _moans_ I heard this morning coming from you-?"

"Leave him alone, Kers." Sheik's voice groaned from somewhere outside the room. Kers grinned – of course, full of teeth, the big bad wolf incarnate except he was a goddamned _fox_ – towards the window.

He was silent, shooting Link entirely-too-amused looks and toying with his nails for the next few minutes. After a small eternity where Link sat, blushing and terrified across the table from a madman, Sheik and the draugr returned. Sanguine slid into his chair with the liquid grace Link had come to associate with all tan-skinned, red-eyed people, (he took a moment to look, and Sanguine's eyes were definitely gleaming red) and Sheik sunk into his own with the air of a scolded child. Sanguine and Kers exchanged a glance, before he spoke for them both. At length Sanguine leaned back in his chair and said, "Link. Have you ever been through a Trial of Sight before?"

"Does the Shadow temple count?" Link asked brightly, his immediate association of anything involving trial (with temples) and sight (with sheikah and shadows) finally paying off. Sanguine narrowed his eyes.

"Did you have help?"

"… yes." The lens of truth.

"Then it doesn't count." Aww. Sanguine continued in spite of Link's pouting, "Well, I can't say I can actually recall having to do this before, but… part of my job as the pass's guardian is to make sure any hylians who pass the trials won't, you know, die horribly once they reach Tot. The place isn't exactly called the City of the Dead for its child-friendly environments. It's designed for sheikah, and though devils and demons," He spared Kers a wry look, "can usually get through fine, hylians have to be in top mental and physical shape to even hope…" He paused a moment and waved it off, "Ah, well, you made it through the shadow temple. And Kers. That does count for something. Not quite… everything, but something. Kers and I talked about it, and Kers talked with Sheik last night…" Link gave him a glance at the corner of his eye. Sheik looked like he'd just downed something very sour. "… we agreed that you should go through some training, so that you'll understand a little better what you're walking into. You hylians are supposed to hear the gods, right? But you can't see like the sheikah. We have to fix that."

Link gave him a blank stare.

"I'm going to train your ears to understand the world like a sheikah's eyes." Kers elaborated dryly. Link blinked.

_Oh._ Sure, Kers was kind of crazy, but… that sounded like a pretty good idea. He spared Sheik a glance, half for his opinion and half to ask why he didn't seem particularly thrilled. Sheik met his gaze square, misery and exasperation swimming in his eyes.

"Kers is a fucking psychopath. His idea of fun involves numerous near-death experiences."

_Oh. So you must get along well then. I know we will, swimmingly. _

"… but I agree, that it would be a… good idea, for you to learn." He glanced away, "If… we were separated, it would be integral that you could…"

Link blinked at him, then turned back to Kers. "I'll do it." Said he, and nodded.

Kers smiled. "Great! But you have to take off the amulet, first."

"… my amulet?" He put a protective hand over the sometimes-feathers, sometimes-stones gem. Kers nodded.

"Kind of defeats the purpose. It's been acting like the lens of truth for you, hasn't it?"

… _What?_

* * *

**(chapter end) **


	16. Smile on the King of Hearts

**Review responses**

Ryttu3k: He's very good at that, isn't he? Hmmm… sadly, not much on the amulet this time… Because I fail… but we're getting somewhere with some other things.

CakeStealer: You get the rest of that scene today, my dear. Do enjoy. (And request denied.)

CottonCandyaze: Because you're a pervert with a sadist kink for poor, sweet Link? Is that why you like Kers? *evil laugh*

Trolly's Bara-chan: DON'T ENCOURAGE HIM. And come to think of it, you're probably the only one who KNEW who I was talking about… oops…

blu-babe: I am flattered by your enthusiasm. … and I really, really adore crazy Sheik, so you'll probably see a lot more of him as the scenes allow. … Link only gets crazy when he's thinks he's fucked either way, but it is ALSO quite fun…

shugo sora: HE DID! And this time it's pain-in-the-ass Sheik… Please don't kill me for this. *laughs*

So, um… holy crap this is late! Sorry! I've had it done for quite a while but I've just been so icky with writing lately! Sorrrrry! But, glaring balefully at a chapter does not make it edit itself. Now we know that. Onward to… something!

**Chapter 16: Smile on the King of Hearts (Tragedy was a lover) **

* * *

How did he…? Link double-took, and his eyes flickered to Kers and the necklace and back. Sheik looked surprised, even.

"That's what that is?" He wondered, and Kers stared at them both like they were idiots. Sanguine leant back with a smirk.

"… How'd you…?" Link trailed off at the now-amused smile on Kers's face. Half-lidded amber eyes swam with amusement and the light of a firefly, and Kers put his cheek in his hand.

"You got it from Iblis, didn't you?"

This just seemed to be getting worse.

"I recognized it. Those stones only come from the underworld. They're filled with his energy. And they practically glow with suffering. It's… a little hard to miss, I'll confess. It could only come from him."

Sanguine let out a noise, something from the back of his throat that was almost derisive, and a little entertained. "Don't tease, Kers. It's impolite."

Kers stuck out his tongue at him, eyes half-lidded, before turning back to Link expectantly. He shifted in his seat, lifting his head just long enough to switch the hand he held it with. He rested his cheek against the back of his hand, giving Link a terribly confident and almost smug look that, Link was startled to find, was rather attractive.

It reminded him of someone else who could be dark and devilish and a little foreboding… His eyes flickered in Sheik's direction without his permission for just a moment.

And from the too-pleased twitch on Kers's lips, he'd caught it. Brimstone and hellfire raining, he'd caught it.

His fingers twitched, the ones on the hand supporting his head. The shimmering eyes kept Link's gaze, accurately telegraphing 'I know', along with a smug smile twitching on his lips.

Inside his head, Link swore.

* * *

Gods, how he hated his life.

Link was writhing underneath of him, and damn if this wasn't… oh, more than he had ever even _hoped _for, and who could have thought the awkward and sweet hero could become this… wanton and alluring. Sheik wanted to sink into him. He wanted to breathe in his scent and press against him and make him reach the height of ecstasy, screaming his name for everyone to hear. He wanted to have his blood on his lips, the sweet flavor of his skin and sweat on his tongue. He wanted to press into him and do things no one had ever done to Link before, and he hated himself for it.

Wishing to defile the ever-pure hero… What a filthy thing he was.

Men weren't supposed to be pure, in hylian culture. And really, it wasn't fair, something so beautiful and clean writhing and just _begging _for it…

Sheik continued to struggle with himself, awkwardly frozen while Link panted, eyes shut, the faint sheen of perspiration on his face. Sheik wanted to kiss him and bite his neck until it was a mess of red skin. Goddesses above and God below, it wasn't _fair_.

Link mewled, hazy blue eyes flitting open, giving Sheik the most pleading stare he'd ever received in his life. And the trust swimming alongside the desire, even stronger… Sheik felt his stomach turn. Link trusted him.

Link fucking _trusted _him.

He pushed off the bed and stumbled back, shaking his head furiously, pressing the heel of his palm to his mouth to hold in the bile rising in his throat. _I was- I would have- fucking…_

"I'm so sorry." He swore, eyes wide and vulnerable, and stumbled out - down the hall and into the washroom to retch.

Link watched him go, eyes wider… Sheik had looked… horrified. Like one of them had done something unforgivable. Link felt his heart pull a little and gave a slight mewl – confusion fogged his mind a second, before he forced himself to take stock of the situation.

Sheik was upset.

He was… he glanced down, grimacing, to discover he was half-hard.

He'd woken up to Sheik… rubbing him with his leg, which Sheik seemed as startled by as Link.

And… goddamn it, he was still there and apparently the rest of his body was just as stubborn as his head.

Meanwhile, while Link cursed his body's natural responses to ridiculously sexy sheikah and not-quite-manual stimulation, Sheik was in the bathroom cursing habits born of too many bedmates and hyper-aware instincts. He was also cursing everything from androphilia to pretty blonds and wanton noises, to Kers and his fucking _nose _and all that garbage about one room and two beds, and himself for not just _staying the hell away. _Link trusted him and he'd somehow ended up molesting him in the damn bed while they _slept. _What kind of insane pervert even managed that? _You did. _A voice that sounded unnervingly like Shadow Caster's said, and he gripped the edge of the sink until his knuckles were white, snarling.

He'd almost… gods, he _wanted Link. _And he damn-near had him, stretched out and panting and pretty… _and he trusts you so much, you all-but ran screaming from the room, terrified of betraying that trust. _

_Would it have been better if he'd pulled you down and told you he hated you? Would you have given him what he wanted had his eyes bled red and his voice filled with suffering?_

… _shut up… _Gentle strokes of the hand, trying to calm the ache between his eyes and pounding in the back of his skull. He cradled his temples under tan fingers and hung his head until the faint presence and its cruel words faded from the back of his mind. _Damn Belial. _

A beautiful angel cast in sin, forevermore dubbed 'worthless'. As lovely as Lucifer, as cruel as he was beautiful. It seemed fitting.

For the name of a monster of an outcast… it seemed perfect. The worthless angel.

Sheik washed his mouth out in the sink.

* * *

When Sanguine rose from bed – groggy and wondering where his pillow had gotten off to in the night – it was far too early. In spite of that he wandered from the room, down the hall, up the stairs… and paused in front of the door to Sheik's room, half-asleep curiosity getting the best of him.

Soft pants and stifled breathes, half-bitten off moans… they carried through the wooden barrier, sweet and intimate and a little filthy with sheer desire.

… Oh dear.

He continued on his way, making a note to tell Kers he'd been right, 'so just get it out now, asshole,' and passed the bathroom to arrive (through the archway) in the kitchen.

"Mmm." Upon spotting his lost pillow, he made a noise of pleasure and moved across the room to wrap his arms around it happily.

Kers jolted and blinked at him. "Um… Sanguine. You don't have pants."

Sanguine continued cuddling him.

"We have guests. Get dressed." Kers pushed on his chest until, grumbling, the draugr relented and skulked off to find '_pants' _and maybe even a _'shirt'…_ Kers could be such a prude, honestly…

On his way back to the room he heard Sheik muttering to himself in the bathroom. And in the bedroom by the stairs… Muffled pants and moans reached him, and then a long keen, half-muffled by what he guessed was a pillow.

A stifled groan. More panting, tired now instead of… like he'd been running in there, or doing something else…

Oh _dear_. Sheik had left him to finish himself? Sanguine would have to have a chat with him about that.

As if on cue, Sheik's muffled curses were muffled no longer; he stalked out of the bathroom and slammed the door shut, not even noticing the… minimally-clad guardian at the other end of the hall watching him.

Sanguine continued on his way to get dressed. He could already see a long day approaching.

Minutes later he arrived in the kitchen, breakfast in hand, to a raucously laughing Kers and a very miserable, single guest (Sheik) that would soon become a pair (this would be once Link finished collecting his wits and cleaning himself of the 'evidence', of course) because misery loves company.

* * *

"So… Do you think he'll survive?" Sanguine wondered, watching Kers and Link walk off from the kitchen window.

"What? Are you joking?" Then Sheik remembered that Sanguine subscribed to the belief that 'A truth told with ill intent, beats all the lies you can invent' and felt concern and protective anger prickle and burst within him. "Will he be in real danger?"

"Just kidding." Sanguine chimed, and that smile on his lips was not the least bit reassuring. Like a man about to sink a knife into your back… of course, Sanguine wasn't called a monster for no fault of his own.

In that moment, Sheik also remembered why Sanguine had the mark of a traitor carved into his throat. He and Sheik were the same… a pair of liars.

He really, really hoped Link would be okay.

* * *

Link panted and writhed, but couldn't break out from beneath him. He whimpered and screamed, but it didn't stop anything that would be inflicted.

Goddesses above, was this what it felt like to die…?

"Get up." A harsh voice commanded, and he shuddered and scrambled to meet it. The world was black, empty ether and nothing at all that managed to be everything in existence.

Echoes carried across the world in faint murmurs, and he knew without seeing that he stood on the edge of the cliff – after he'd fallen the first time it was hard to forget.

"Can't you hear me?" The voice came from everywhere, filled up his thoughts but didn't make him whole. It wasn't like the voice he longed to hear calling him from this hell…

"Oh, Link, can't you hear me? I'm only calling for you…" The last echo hit harder and then there was weight, the sensation of falling and cracking his head on hard stone, a sharp pain in his ribs as knives-for-fingers ripped in…

He screamed and died and the cycle started over.

Ripples echoed across the ether.

He tried to listen closer.

* * *

A few hours later, he stayed knelt down and panting on the mountain earth.

Training was… '_interesting'_. Kers refused to say if he was making progress, which Link took to mean he wasn't, or if he was Kers thought learning so would cancel the effect, which meant Link was _meant _to think he wasn't and try harder, so that's what he believed. He also believed that his little silent logic fights with Kers were going to grow tiring for everyone very quickly and resolved to minimize them from the start.

They'd just emerged from the darkness of the void, the first day finished and the blizzard still howling outside the valley. Link was scuffed up and bloodied, but Kers had healed all his wounds before they crossed the threshold back into the 'living world' (Kers's words, not Link's. Link thought them odd too) so he couldn't complain about hurting too much, not that he ever would.

And Sheik… Sheik looked nearly ready to have an aneurism. Sanguine found this much funnier than he actually should. Link brushed himself off and was very casual about the whole affair, though if one looked closely they'd notice how he twitched whenever Kers moved around him, whether too close or too quickly.

"_I killed him a few times." _Was how Kers had cheerfully replied to Sheik's question of progress, and had been what led to this point of near-aneurisms and stewing rages, and inappropriately casual foxes cleaning their nails while sheikah threatened them. Oh well. At least he was being obscure with _everyone_ about that question. If obscure meant 'completely and shamelessly avoiding the question'.

And of course, Kers's obscure answer cost him; to the great surprise of no one (except, perhaps, good Sir Lunatic himself), this was not the kind of thing you'd want to hear when someone returned from training, and Sheik reacted quite... impressively.

On the other hand, (in Link's thoughts on his own progress) Kers's draconian methods were particularly effective, and the fact that he'd only managed to kill Link 'a few times' only attested to the boy's quick learning (though of course, only Sanguine could be aware of the implications of that little tidbit).

The skill they were trying to imbue was, according to both guardians, best learnt either at a young age, or over many grueling months. When Kers became involved it took about a week, sometimes less depending on the student and their stubbornness or threshold for pain. Amateurs didn't last very long with Kers. … Most sheikah didn't either. Link was a true sight.

… Sheik didn't quite see it the way Kers and Sanguine did, however. He never did. Such a troublesome boy.

"-am going to _rip out your organs and feed them to you, then bludgeon your head with the scattered limbs, and __**gift your head to your adversaries AS A TROPHY-!**_" True to form, Kers looked rather bored by the entire affair, picking some dirt out from beneath his nails, and buffing them on his shirt.

Link just wanted some downtime before he had to go back into Empty Ether, where Kers was, no joke, god. He could kill someone and will them back to life in there, or create whatever he wished. It was like a layer of hell. A special, bonus layer that you only got if you made it through all the other levels with high scores. Link didn't like bonus layers. Especially ones where he knew he wasn't getting any treasure. So not worth it.

And Link would be going back there over and over, or more specifically to the pain inside there over and over, until he learned to accurately (or at least, passably for the purposes of survival) judge the locations of objects, platforms and lunatic foxes based on reflected sound, wind motion, and scent. Fucking scent. Apparently the whole 'hear like the sheikah see' thing was a crock (or, the other explanation should be labeled as 'more accurately', as Kers-the-apparent-perfectionist put it during his explanation).

Anyway, he wanted a break from the chaos. He wasn't going to get it if a ranting, raving, borderline murder-happy Sheik was on the rampage. So he stood up, stony-faced, with a few pomegranate seeds he'd been planning on eating still nestled in his hand. (Apparently fruit was his reward for being a good boy.) He walked over to (the still quite volatile) Sheik and with an icy calm no one should be capable of when facing down such a formidable and ferocious opponent as a raging sheikah, stuffed said seeds in Sheik's mouth when he opened it to yell.

And kudos to Link, because it _did_ have the desired effect of bringing peace. A very terrifying peace, but after coming back from twelve straight hours of ribcage-rippings one tended to care less about the little things.

So Link wasn't picky. He sat down again and bit into his pomegranate like he'd seen Sanguine do earlier, munching with an annoyed expression and ignoring the juice dribbling down his chin. Sheik's eyes fixed on it like it was the most fascinating thing in the world, and Link wondered what he was seeing. Blood, maybe.

Silly sheikah. (Silly hylians.)

"… we need to talk some more, huh…?" Sanguine broke the silence, glancing between Link and Sheik.

Kers was much more blunt, the goddess-sent angel that he was. "That's another lover's thing." He informed with crossed arms.

"It got you all to shut up, didn't it?" Link demanded wryly, pomegranate poised next to his mouth for another bite. His tongue flicked out to catch some juice absently.

Sheik whimpered. Link went back to eating. Sanguine laughed.

And… meanwhile, Kers seemed to be calculating something…

* * *

Fast forward one uneventful evening and a similar day, or as similar as on could get when they were dying and being reborn in an endless cycle of pain.

Another long two hours of training had passed when Kers decided – midway through eviscerating Link yet again – that he needed to cook dinner. So he passed his hands over the wound and all was better – Link was very, very confused about how he could do that, 'god' or not – and bounced to his feet. In a moment he was running off in the darkness. For once, Link could hear his footsteps echo… But Kers had left him alone on the platform.

A laugh rung out while Link stood staring (still sightless) into the blackness in confusion. "_Come on, Link, listen to my voice… can't you hear me screaming?"_

He blinked. His ears twitched.

"… _I'm waiting for you."_ Kers's voice whispered.

So he shut his eyes.

A drop of water rung out, creating a thousand ripples that bounced between sound and matter. His foot came down on invisible stone and Link spoke, "Where?"

Kers laughed – somewhere not so far off but hidden, or he was muffling his voice with his hand.

The echoes from Link's voice carried back to him.

So he spoke again, stepping closer and closer to where he remembered the edge. "I can't hear you. Can't you call louder?"

"I won't scream your name until you give me a good reason~" Kers laughed.

Link reached the edge and kept talking, listening to pebbles scatter over the edge and fall into oblivion, "I can't do that if I can't reach you. And I can't do that if I can't see you."

"Oh Link, you should know better than that by now~…" Kers's voice wasn't muffled anymore. In fact… it sounded like he was just a few feet away. In a heartbeat Link dropped down and sprung across the gap, hands grasping for the voice. He came up a touch short, catching the ledge with his arms, and cursed, and Kers laughed. He was standing beside where Link was, head tilted back in the darkness… Link clawed his way up, standing on the edge of the platform. Kers shifted – he'd turned to face him again, and his eyes were probably gleaming with ill-intent and amusement, but Link couldn't see any of it. "Smart boy." He purred, and Link felt the warmth of his hand hovering by his jaw before he touched him. A claw stroked his cheek. "Using me to find the edge. Very good." A feral grin was promised in the next tone and words, "Well? I'm not going to wait again." Link felt the wind rush as Kers took off, and scrambled to follow.

Kers wasn't quiet when he jumped or ran, apparently needing the sound just as much as Link did. He slipped through the darkness as seamlessly as a keese navigating the night sky, flipping and twirling when it suited him. It took a while to understand the cues for those movements.

The darkness seemed like it could drag on forever. But before he knew it, Kers was leading him up the stairs into the sunlight with his voice.

* * *

Dinner was quick and quiet. Shortly after they'd eaten Sanguine went outside singing a lullaby, but Link just wanted to go straight to sleep. He gave Sheik a frustrated stare when he came in the room later – Link heard the faint click of the lock and the covers barely shift across the room.

"Sheik." He mumbled, poking his head out from under the comforter. It was far too cold. In the very faint light that shined in, Sheik's eye widened as he turned to look.

"… I thought you were asleep."

"Lock noise." Link muttered. Sheik grimaced.

"Right… that training…"

He shifted from foot to foot. Link sighed. Seemed he had to do everything himself… "I'm really cold, Sheik." He announced, rolling onto his side and shifting his weight on one elbow.

"… what?" The floorboards creaked with protest when Sheik walked toward his own bed.

"Sleep with me?" The hylian youth implored, eyes half-lidded with sleep but still quite shiny. Sheik choked. Link was too sleepy - and perhaps naïve of slang - to understand why that could be. "Please?... I want to be able to touch you… after today I just… want a hug…" He tucked his nose against his pillow and averted his gaze, the image of pathetic and innocent, and smothered a yawn. Across the room, Sheik sputtered as he melted.

Link felt heat next to his bed through the blanket, and then the covers were pulled up so Sheik could slide in beside him. "We shouldn't do this." Sheik muttered. Link sighed and cuddled up to his chest.

"I don't see the problem." He mumbled, content to be within the same space as his friend. "Good night, Sheik."

"Link…" Sheik trailed off and sighed, and Link felt a touch of sorrow and fondness in his next words while a hand stroked his hair, "… good night." Sheik murmured, and Link fell asleep dreaming about stars.

* * *

"Goddesses please, please…" It was like a nightmare. Shudders were running through the body trapped under his fingers in the dark. Sweat beaded on the skin and smeared with something else – he ran his tongue over it, prompting pitiful, begging mewls. He ran sharp nails over the ribs, listening closer to the erratic beat of his heart and spastic breathing.

"…. Please, Sheik…" Link groaned and rubbed against him, flushed and panting, the image of an incubus.

Of course Sheik wanted him.

His nails sunk into the hero's ribs and he lapped at his throat, and Link gave another wanton noise just for his ears.

He dug in his nails and moved himself a little lower when the darkness began to warp…

The soft hands clutching at his hair and the hushed voice begging 'please' became longer, cold-but-firm fingers and a deeper note pleading…

He looked up into the black eyes of a corpse, certainly not Link's sky blue, no… Even with the eyes rotted away, Sheik knew him. 'Twas of a long-dead traitor from Ganon's reign. The one he'd almost been killed over. The one who… _had a family, had hope, had perhaps even actually cared about-_

His fingers traced Sheik's face like a lover's – _of course, he had been_ - and brought him back to the present with a shutter, the ungodly image carved into his mind. Rotting lips part to reveal rotting teeth in a silent scream, sorrow unending.

'_I had a family, I had a future… I trusted you…_

_You let me die._

_You left me to this. _

_No, _Sheik thought, gazing on with a stricken expression, _no, because I-_

* * *

"Sheik? Sheik, please, wake up…" He was roused from his dream – shuddering, icy-cold and clammy- by the insistent fingers clutching his bicep and shaking him. Worried blue eyes were almost luminous in the moonlight, and Link looked so terribly concerned that Sheik felt ashamed. "You were crying out… I thought you… well; I thought you were having a nightmare…" There was a moment where he lost control – he could hate himself later, he always said – and after it passed his hand was buried in blond hair, pulling Link forward so he could coil around him, burying his nose in his neck and shuddering softly.

Link stiffened and patted his back, relenting with soft coos and silent assurances when he realized Sheik was _crying_. He didn't know why… of course, if you don't tell someone how can they know…?

Sheik shuddered again and swallowed a sob. _Damn it. _

_Damn it damn it damn it. _

That person was gone, but the memory lingered.

His actions would never disappear. The weight of a sin had to be born forever.

And if the weight of a sin against an innocent was unending…

Well, then he supposed he'd be crushed endlessly forever.

_Damn it damn it damn it damn it… _

Link's kind words reached his ear beyond the suffering, something Link thought he needed to hear, or maybe that whisper wasn't meant to be heard at all but still he did… "I love you, Sheik." Link murmured, perfectly honest.

And that was the end of him. Sheik choked and recoiled, curling in on himself. He was alone as he was embraced.

_Do you know… what happened… to the last-?_ The words caught in his throat. He felt like nothing was holding him down anymore, but he wasn't free. He was just… fading.

_No._

_Choking on his dying breath, watching the red run down the sword. He wondered where it had gone wrong. He wondered who had taught him. The red touched his fingers but he was tainted so long before the blood… it was almost like a glove he could take off at his leisure. The kind eyes glossed over with the despair were crushing him – there was fear and hurt but never hatred. If only he could hear those words, 'I wish you would die', he would be fine with it. He could live and disappear. But life was never so simple. The man he detested, he fed bread and porridge. But the man who would show him kindness for the first time in that hellhole, besides a smiling Lady and her guard, should be slain? Blasphemous suffering at the hands of a cruel fate. And yet that was his existence. And he could not disappear until his kindest cruel mistress lay dead. _

_So he sunk the sword into the neck of someone who could've loved him and took a new face. The unholy demon who swallowed innocence and wallowed in the blood of those fallen, the man even the other devils feared…_

_The Red Devil…_

_And over the corpse of the only one who mattered, after the life flickered out in their eyes, he heard a voice whisper too-sweet words to him in parting. And aloud he wondered, "Do you know what happened to last person who loved me?" but the man was already dead._

* * *

"I can't train today." Link told Kers at breakfast.

Kers continued stirring his tea. "You know you only have a limited number of days." He stated, adding another spoonful of honey to the cup.

"I'll just have to work faster then. I can't today."

"Did something happen with Sheik?" His host asked clinically, giving him a cool look. Link grimaced.

"Something like that, yeah."

Without a hint of surprise on his face, Kers sipped his tea. His eyes flit shut and his tail flicked behind him. "Best of luck to you." He offered up, toasting with his cup.

"Thanks." Link nodded and braced his hands on the wood before standing up from the table.

* * *

Sheik's head was buried in his hands when Link returned to the room. He didn't look up when Link came to sit beside him, though he stirred when a hesitant arm wrapped around his shoulder. "Don't touch me." His voice was sharp, with a sort of stygian deadness to it that repelled like a bari's electricity.

Link was quick to retract his hand, and glanced away. He moved further from the sheikah. And in another moment Sheik keened, looking up from his arms to see the hurt expression Link was trying to direct away and out of sight. "H- Hero, I'm sorry…"

"My name is Link." Link muttered, turning his gaze back again. Frustration gleamed in his eyes. "What's wrong with you?"

Sheik flinched as if Link had struck at him, then gave a hollow laugh and pulled his knees to his chest.

Ah, wasn't this just the way he used to sit…? "What's right with me, really." He murmured, laying his cheek on his knee and shutting his eyes. They flashed open again in a moment, swiveling to Link's, and they were more luminous in the half-dark room than a poe's lantern in the night. Teeth flashed in a smile that was more like a threat, too sweet and sharp and easy. But Link couldn't bring himself to fear Sheik anymore, in any way.

It really was too bad that Sheik was starting this up again… but Link had hurt him, without even trying, and what did Sheik know about dealing with people who loved him?

"Hey Hero, want to play a game?" Sheik wondered, and Link shivered.

"… I told you that's not my name." He muttered and stood up. If Sheik wanted to be alone then… perhaps Link should listen to him.

Sheik let out a raspy chuckle as Link stood, but choked on it when Link's fingers touched the door. "Hero, wait." Against better judgment, trying not to seethe at the name, Link waited. He glanced over his shoulder. Sheik cocked his head, eyes still almost-glowing. "Do you know why the devil was called 'Red'?"

Link shook his head. Sheik's strange smile didn't change. It still looked more like suffering than joy. "Don't say such wonderful things until you learn, my Hero." He whispered almost-fondly, eyes gleaming in the half-lit hell.

'_Hero'. _

_Fucking __**Hero**__._

That was it.

He stepped out and heard Sheik's laughter echo behind him.

It wasn't mocking, but it wasn't sweet either. Really, when Link listened, it sounded like he was screaming.

When something hurt this much… it was hard to understand that another might also be in pain.

* * *

Sanguine balanced a coin on its side on the tip of his claw, shifting his hand and watching the light gleam on blood-tarnished metal. It really was lovely.

There was a certain beauty in innocence but it needed a touch of the darkness to truly flourish – perfect lights were balanced, but they never moved and wasn't that boring?

He let his hand shift and watched the coin slip. Yes, the greater beauty he could see in falling… shooting stars were more interesting than static ones.

A touch of the dark kept the light from being blinding.

_But, of course,_ he considered while dropping low and catching the coin, resetting it on his claw tip after he stood back up, _one must balance their time between standing still and moving. _

And as if summoned by the notion, a troubled Link hurried past. Sanguine let a smile touch on his face as he pushed off the wall. "Hey, Link, why don't you wait up a moment…?"

* * *

**(end chapter) **

And then everybody hated me again… this chapter was originally longer, but the break worked best here. Next time we get a glimpse of what's going on in other parts of Hyrule~.


	17. Stranger things said

I have been gone for far too long, but three months isn't that bad for getting stuck dead center in a 12,000 word beast, right?

Right?

No review responses this time, not because I didn't get reviews (you lovely bunch gave me LOTS) but because it is 4 am on the dot and I feel like I'm about to pass out. Goodnight, my loves, and happy 4th of July! (a little late, I think)

... now, my cousin's bugging me to go set off fireworks, so until next time, loves! Fail. (top message was written at 4 am July 4th, this one at... 1 am July 5th)

Final note: There are random scatterings of other languages in here. The large passages are all Latin and done with google translate, as was the French.

Uso da is Japanese, the line following that Latin, and then French. Everything not in English after that SHOULD be Latin (except 'iie'. That's Japanese again).

'Zombiefuck' is something I picked up from the DOGS fandom, specifically KinkyEyepatchShit's works. Their glorious, glorious works. So credits to them, I guess? And for the record, it refers to Heine – a man who won't die from any injury besides severing his neck from his head or a bullet to it. Expanded here for our darling draugr.

* * *

**Chapter 17: Stranger things have been said, but nothing quite as jarring ('I love you' isn't a swear.)**

* * *

_"__Heroes__ or villains, it doesn't matter. Everyone wants to protect somebody…"_ – Interview with a Noah, by Beautymoon

* * *

"Shit, shit, shit, shit- DAMN IT!"

The streets were rather lively here; he thought as he leapt another rubbish bin and twisted away from a startled guard in the twilit town.

"Please refrain from cursing quite so loudly." Was all he called back, noting with a touch of irritation that, perhaps because of the poorer area and fewer hylians, monsters skulked about the alleys in this part of the town.

"COME BACK HERE AND SAY THAT TO MY FACE!" His companion screeched, probably waving a winded guard's pilfered spear half-hazard at his back.

"You're wearing a mask." With those sage words he coiled and leapt, scrambled over the top of the wall ending the alley, and rolled once he hit the other side. They really shouldn't have been able to chat casually while they ran for their pride and lives. Or run and scream in black rage, as in his companion's case.

"I am going to-"

Whatever charmingly creative threat could wait. "Dog!" He cut in, twisting out of the stalhound's path and into an area with cover while the one behind him continued to curse.

"_Do not interrupt me when I am speaking!_" The shrill shriek was accompanied by a death-scream, and his companion rounded the alley corner cussing and growling, free of injury, after another moment.

He continued his path up the wall. "We have a schedule to keep. If you keep acting like that and getting us kicked out of the towns or chased by the authorities, we won't make it." He admonished with eyes sharp with calculations as he searched for handholds in the brick and mortar.

"Oh, what's being a little late now?" The companion laughed, kicking off of the ground and floating up to hover beside him - lazy and amused, as obnoxious a sight as ever. He'd grown used to it. He narrowed his eyes and hauled himself over the top of the castle wall.

"I am never late."

His companion laughed. "Is that so? I look forward to testing it…"

A slight glare was the only thing he spared the levitating man before he leapt from the peak, graceful as a fox.

The eye engraved bellow his collarbone burned.

* * *

"Ahh, I love that kid but he's such an idiot some days it kills me." Sanguine shook his head with regret and glanced at the sky, "… Still, he just does it because he doesn't know better…" And again he shook his head, though this time it seemed it was to banish a thought. And then he laughed with fire dancing across his fingertips, and the reflection of hungry, licking flames in his eyes showed Link someone almost frightening. Tan fingers came together in a fist to make the tongues of fire dissipate.

"You're curious, right?"

Link nodded.

"You know some of what he's done."

"I know about… things he did in the war, yes." Sanguine paused long enough to grin.

"You asked him?"

"Yeah." Link didn't like that expression at all.

"… You know, you should ask him not about what he did in the war, but who he _was._" Sanguine gave him a slightly dark, enigmatic smile that was terribly at odds with his easy-going attitude. "It's a much more interesting story." And with the dark promise in his eyes…

Link tried to swallow past the lump in his throat.

It seemed every path could only lead to more suffering. He had to trust there was a light at the end of the tunnel when he was blind.

Then again, wasn't that what Kers was supposed to be teaching him in the first place?

* * *

Sanguine smirked as Link walked away again, tossing the coin and catching it. The kid would grow on them yet… after all, Sheik did.

Sheik was a problem right now, though. Apparently what had happened… changed him more than they'd hoped. When he and Kers had talked about it Kers had muttered that the root was deeper, and Sanguine could understand that. Terrible parents seemed to be a running theme for the people on the fringes.

Oh, but to Sheik…

Names were important… after all, if something didn't have a name, how could it exist?

And then there was the question of 'worthless' and what it meant and why that man would say it… _'worthless'._ It was a filthy word. His lips curled in distaste and he squeezed the hand the coin was in shut.

Sheik was a self-sacrificing idiot, scarred emotionally and with an inferiority complex constantly trying to burrow itself into his mind alongside a very real fear.

A fear of what, Sanguine thought, Link should be very disturbed to discover. But, well, there was a reason the word 'traitor' also meant 'monster' to a sheikah.

* * *

"I don't like this." His companion spared him a small, weak smile, red eyes glimmering.

"We live in unfavorable times, older brother." The boy reminded gently, and then cast his gaze aside. A troubled expression melded over his lips. "You rarely like anything nowadays."

"Sheik, that wasn't what…" He cut himself off with a sigh, shaking his head and stepping over to the younger male. He wasn't quite a boy, but he wasn't a man either. Not yet. He put a hand under his chin and tilted his head back, voice chiding, "Look at me, Sheik. I don't wish for you to bathe in blood to keep from drowning."

"If I fall into the ocean, I'll die." Sheik pointed out softly, his half-developed body full of too much life, his still-forming voice cracking in the middle of his words. Lyre in hand and hip cocked, he was the image of careless, carefree youth.

And he stood there anointed in the blood of those fallen to his blade and bare fingers.

A terrible fear welled up alongside the pride he felt – a young warrior stood before him, beautiful and ruthless. If it had just been the warrior, everything would have been brilliant… But before him in the eyes of the warrior, he also saw the child. How could someone who'd seen so much still be a child?

Perhaps it was just a flitting remnant. It made his heart ache to wish for the innocence to disappear, but he knew Sheik was right – he would drown if it didn't. And… honestly, if Sheik drowned, he wasn't sure how he'd make it. The boy was too bright to extinguish so carelessly. And… such was youth, so perhaps if they smothered that spark…

"I'm going to join him." Sheik's murmur broke through his musings like a chair through a window during a bar-room brawl. "He offered me a place. I could only just get away to tell you. … I'm going to join him."

And he felt his heart sink. "Sheik, you can't-"

"Already did." Sheik turned a smile up at him, so faint and lovely but light in the center of pitch-black hell it was painful to behold. "And I've spoken to Kers about it, so… in perhaps a month, I'd like to ask you a favor." He turned sweet eyes up to him, and raised a hand to touch his cheek. And even though it was the hand of a killer, the face of a kind-hearted boy drew him in, and he didn't even notice the blood smearing across his skin.

"You have to live that long. Then, I'll give you anything." He promised with an indulgent smile, but his eyes screamed 'stop! You can run away, so please…'

Please don't…

_Don't do this.'_

As if Sheik would listen to him. Headstrong as ever, Sheik went out the door, and he saw the child disappearing for the killer. Something had changed, something had died. And he knew he wouldn't do anything differently in Sheik's place, but he worried about that change. If it would be for the better, or…

A drop of water _plunked_ and splattered on the dry ground outside the window.

And really that was so long ago he didn't know what to do.

A stalhound's baying broke him from his musing, a drowsy and blurry half-dream. A body slunk up beside him in the dark and pressed close, but it was warm so he didn't complain like he should have. Damn it all, but when had the weather grown so cold…? He sighed and shuffled closer to his companion, noticing curiously that the ever-present mask was absent. Perhaps the clouds blotting the newborn moon had made him feel better…

The presence of slow breathes against his neck was strange, but not despised. Rough bandages brushed his skin with each inhalation. That was odd, but not rejected. Almost, just almost, it reminded him of that time in the beginning of the end of a peaceful land, and the end of a beginning a war-ravaged one, and he wondered if that was by design or unintended consequence. Eyes shut, he allowed himself to fall asleep again.

* * *

"So how do you feel about being the hero, Link?" Kers wondered a day after his little chat with Sanguine, dancing as he parried the swings of the mastersword with long claws.

Link's expression morphed to confusion, and although in the dark one couldn't see it, Kers knew him better than he should by now. "It's fate, right?... I've never really thought about how I feel because I can't change it." Link explained, edging around him.

The fox made a disbelieving sound, twisting around him and trying to sneak in a slash to his back. Link caught on and hacked open his shoulder.

_"Shit."_ Kers muttered, then echoed in a louder voice, "'Fate'?"

"What? It is." Link defended in tone and blade, listening to the echoes as Kers' claws again met metal. He'd really have to ask how he got them hard as steel. "I was the destined one whether I wanted to be or not."

Kers sighed.

The noise came from behind Link, slightly to the left, and he could feel the breath hit his neck. Kers's body was cooler than Sheik's or Sanguine's but the faint heat of a living form was still radiating from it. A bit of air changed near Link's hip, and he spun and parried the knife-like nails with his blade before they could sink in. "I don't believe in such boring things as fate and predetermination." Kers intoned over the crash of metal, unbothered at being thwarted again. Link thought constantly disemboweling him the first few times might've actually gotten him _bored _with it.

"How can you not?" Link argued, swinging for Kers's body and forcing their blades to clash together again. He could do to train his body more – he didn't want to be entirely reliant on his ears fighting in the dark. Kers was silent when he wasn't speaking (or laughing or screaming…) and Link was sure there'd be more people like him on the mountain. Hell and high water if he got in a fight in a dark room with one (if Sheik could be crazy-prepared, then so could he). So he was learning by temperature and air today instead. And scent, of course. Kers often reminded him.

The scent of flowers and copper crossed his nose. Two hands – still clawed, but not tensed or sinking into him – pressed flat against his shoulders in the front, and Kers gently led him to the ground. Link wondered what horrible punishment awaited him for obeying meekly, but Kers hadn't done this before, and he was nothing if not curious – even of a potentially lethal fox. Gods, how had he survived his journey again? (Navi and Sheik and lots of screaming.)

Kers straddled his hips, tracing a claw against his cheek. Only _then_ did Link tense.

"My eye…"

"If you're worried about it, keep talking so I know what's where on your face." Kers murmured, sounding distracted and brushing the skin gently. He made a thoughtful noise. "So… the hero thought he had no choice, huh…" Well… Link supposed this could be their break time?

"I didn't."

Kers smiled. A chuckle broke the darkness. "You did."

"How could I deny the goddess's will?" At that Kers _crooned_, swiping his thumbs across each cheek and making Link very, very nervous for his eyes and his face and his everything, ever. He didn't want to blind all the time, curse it!

"Tell the world to fuck off, of course." The fox purred. "Not like it's your problem if they all burn." He leaned closer, soft laughs escaping near Link's neck. Kers traced the shape of his jaw with a claw tip.

Link frowned. "I could never-! Why would you even _suggest _that?"

"The word you're looking for is 'how'," Kers murmured against his jugular, nosing the skin curiously. Link would've flushed with embarrassment had anger not already reddened his cheeks. "And the answer is 'I hate humans'. I hate everyone."

_Uso da. _The space whispered, not that Link knew a damn thing about what that meant. _Quod est mendacium… C'est un mensonge…_

"Though to be honest with you, I love the sound of screaming." As ever he seemed deaf to the whispering permeating the place. Kers sighed; a long, happy thing that was, in current context, horrifying. "I wonder what it would sound like if the whole world screamed in tandem. Once I experienced something close… twenty-five years ago, I heard so many static red voices break their monotony to shriek out in suffering I felt like I could die. It was a sad day, completely ruined the voices' harmonious shrieking. And you know, they weren't even people then. They were only pests to be killed, just like monsters – just like me. It was happy day for the taste of blood and suffering… but those people didn't deserve the hand your so-called fate dealt them." Link flinched. Now why did that sound familiar…?

_After all, hadn't he thought something like this before? About Zelda, himself, anyone? What about Sheik?_

_Hadn't he wondered why Sheik's life was the way it was?_

Kers sighed, pleasure, pain and suffering mingling together against bare skin and slipping apart in the haze. "Do you really think there are three sisters who cut the threads of life and write the book of the world? That we as creatures have no freewill at all?" He traced his hand down from Link's throat to his collar and played with the fabric there, "You see Link, right now, no god or goddess could come to choose this. Not for every being, every second. Right now I could choose to hurt you… or offer to let you scream in pleasure." Link shuddered, "And right now you could choose to push me away…" Kers leaned forward to breathe against his ear, whispered, "Or open up."

And to his great satisfaction, he felt Link flush. "And hundreds of others are making choices just like this at this moment. Do you think that fate writes every instance? Do you think mortals would wait for it?" He breathed another sigh onto sensitive skin.

Link shifted, finding his face far too warm. "I… I suppose not, no, but even still… I had no choice but to become the hero." He chose to ignore the other implied questions, not to mention the brazen offer of the fox…

Kers leant back off of him and Link barely caught a sigh of relief from escaping him while his teacher chuckled. "You choose your own fate. Perhaps you'll say that you had no choice, but that is untrue. There is always a choice – perhaps not for a sane man, but you're not exactly sane, are you?" He touched Link's face again, this time tilting back his chin with a claw. "After all, you fell in love with Sheik."

"What!" Link's flush grew worse. "I-"

"You followed him into the darkest hells of Hyrule and made a deal with some self-styled devil of the well just to save him. You love him." Kers corrected and cut him down so neatly, waving a hand in the dark to dismiss any silly things like denials.

"I'd do the same for any of my friends." Link mumbled, heart-broken. Kers's smile –literally, truly – lit up the darkness a moment.

"I know. That's why you're not dead." And then… It sounded like he whispered 'I'm glad he found someone like you,' but he moved on too quickly for Link to mull it over. "Like I said, not sane at all."

"You said 'not exactly'." He of course protested, blue eyes flashing in the infinite black.

"You're hung up too much on the details, young hero. And I should get off of you before someone wanders in and gets the wrong impression." As if someone could just wander into this place. And Kers's tone had gone lighthearted, as if everything had just been a very long, very fun joke.

The poor hylian he was using as a seat couldn't help his snort of disbelief. "There's a right impression to be found here? You're sitting on my hips…"

"The term is 'straddling'." The vile fox corrected happily, _still_ sitting on Link's hips.

Link groaned. "Please get off of me."

"You know I did offer to get you off."

"Kers!"

* * *

Sheik was reading a book when Link went to occupy the doorway. He refused to look up until he reached the end of paragraph, just a few more words until the chapter's end…

He wondered, faint and nervous, what Link could want. He presumed – so rude and terrible of him – that his wayward friend shouldn't be hastening for their next exchange. Throughout all of it the canary was unmoving, and Sheik was proven right about a lack of haste for words by the sheer, indomitable silence. He almost wondered if Link was a shade; lifeless, breathless and come to haunt him like all the others…

Also he wondered if he was simply losing his mind and that he'd failed, that the hero and the lady were no more and this was just a phantasm, born from the fractured mind of a cast shadow to assuage his guilt.

Of course, that was ridiculous. A fox would've come along and killed him if that were so.

Link was as real as the moon swelling in the sky, and infinitely more painful to behold.

The edge of eternity was beautiful, a diamond-hard, star-bright glimmer, arching as a crescent Luna or a scimitar… a deadly blade that all wish to reach out and touch, and which will fell every man who reaches out in envy or flees alike.

Link was his bane, his terrible nightshade or blade of eternity, because he was so much Sheik wanted and all of it denied. The hero would not be another face fading to the dull red that permeated his thoughts.

He would not be sullied like the child sent into the heart of a battlefield and tyrant's keep, or the one with neck split and blood spilt over so many tarnished cobblestones. Sheik had failed too many times, fallen and torn himself apart and learned too much, to let it happen again. Not to Link.

If that meant protecting him from himself, then so be it. From the moment he came into the world life had been hard… what was one more instance of suffering?

* * *

Link lingered in the doorway, nails digging into his palms. Sheik kept reading his book, and Link… Link didn't know what to say.

After a few minutes red eyes glanced up and the book was shut. They turned to him, unabashed in their scrutiny, and Sheik watched him as a bird might watch a snake… or perhaps it was how a fox might watch a rabbit. His eyes were inscrutable, cold and unkind.

Link wished for the lovely warmth to return, but it didn't. He willed words to his throat that could make it, but he couldn't. They reburied themselves past his heart, deep in the shadows of his gut. Shameful.

Undeniably weak. If the situation allowed he should fall to his knees in shame.

But that was not how this could go.

"… Sanguine said I shouldn't ask what you did." Link started with, the words hesitant, tone awkward. Sheik stilled with eyes glimmering in what might've been fear or hatred. "But…" Link paused, and his whole body went very still. His fingers curved against the doorframe and squeezed for assurance. "Sheik. If I… if I ask, will you answer me?" He wondered, and his tone was sweet and eyes begging, imploring, sad… all the sway in the world, tucked into the palm of his hand.

And Sheik was supposed to be the cambion. While his lips wanted to spill lies his eyes betrayed him, taking in Link's stricken countenance and sending it straight to his heart. Fuck. "… yes." He murmured, throat dry, vision blurred. _I would tell you anything to make that look fade from your face. _

"… who were you during… that time? After the takeover but before… the hero…" He paused, bit his lip as the aberration in reality of his own rebirth and actions came up.

Stiff as a redead, Sheik stared at him. His eyes despaired even as he smiled. "Now why would you ask me that?"

"You told me I couldn't… 'say such kind things' until I learned, didn't you? Please tell me."

And Sheik sighed, "… I can't say no to that." His fingers rapped the nightstand. "… Well, at least you knew which devil was red, didn't you…" He sat back and shut his eyes.

* * *

So you want me to tell you a story…

Well, it seems so long ago. Or, I wish it was so long ago. I don't think it's normal… these memories I have, they're just not something normal. It's as though someone stood outside my heart and took snapshots over time, impersonal, observing, never interfering… they show me now in little snippets, while I dredge up the memories for you. I don't feel that way anymore, but I still remember it. I can't change the way I was back then, and it burns me. The key to happiness is a poor memory, you know?

Well…

If you really want to know the truth – and… damn it, Link, I know you do, it's tearing me up watching the way your eyes widen and your heart swells - from the twist of your lips, I can see and tell – I… I suppose I can tell you. After all, you're the person… (_He paused, frowned, catching Link's curious look at the corner of his vision)_

… don't let me go on strange tangents like that. (_Link made no such promises._) The fact of the matter was that I just didn't care back then. I was a doll made from clay and string and spite, and I didn't start to regret it until I got the reason from my… my sun and my moon. (_A little smile curled his lips, remembering._)

What? Why are you making that... WHAT? NO! No, not _son, **Link-!**_ – _(he broke into laughter in the middle of his somber tale, wishing to further scold the hylian but unable until his breathes calmed) –_ I don't have any children; stop looking at me like that, you adorable twit. 'Sun'. Sun, the star that lights the day. … Yes, it is so a star, stop interrupting, you ASKED for this story, Link!

… well. (_He settled back down._) Now you've sucked all the somberness out of me. I'm not so sure I should tell you anymore… Because it requires a serious air.

(_Link opened his mouth to say something too sweet and genuine. He of course, was too good at getting his way with that look and that voice by now._) Oh… alright. Just… stop saying that so easily, please.

Alright, I'm telling the story now. Hush.

* * *

Blood slipping down his fingers - a frown and a cloth, wiping it off because the papers he was handling were important and it wouldn't do to smudge them. He put them in the bag, arranged them carefully between sheets for padding, flipped it shut and fastened it. He stood from the desk and stepped around the cooling body, soft wet _slops _the only sound in the room. The door creaked somewhat on its hinges – they really should fix that. Again it creaked and clicked shut behind him.

Without conscious thought, his fingers ran over the strap of the bag.

Documents. Documents were a waste of time with no one to read them, but that didn't matter. Being king was useless when all your kingdom was dead – unless you were, he supposed, a raiser of the dead – but that didn't matter.

None of that mattered – in the end it had nothing to do with him. And he couldn't bring himself to pretend it mattered, because without… without them, he was useless. He was trying, but he was useless.

When they were here he couldn't protect them, so they had to leave. And he stayed. And he… he knew he had to grow stronger to defend them. The world would fall down again if he couldn't defend them, and he didn't think he could put back the pieces anymore.

This was the final game for him.

So he peeled off the blood stained clothes and pulled on fresh ones, and he stepped out of the building. With a glance and a wave over his shoulder, the Marquis's manor house burst into flames. Sir Carabas had displeased the demon king, it seemed, and that was just unacceptable. So he gathered up the papers, left the corpse and let the house burn. What should it matter to him if he'd stole another life? He'd already lost all that mattered.

* * *

He let out a sigh and paused, hoped that would be enough to be the end, and got up to fetch a glass of water from the pitcher on the nightstand.

Link was making a face. "So you… didn't care if you lived or died?" He wondered, ears twitching.

Sheik's tut answered him. "Personally, no. But I did, in a strange way. I mean… If I wasn't alive, I couldn't correct my mistakes, you see? My many, many mistakes… though, I've realized something, Link." His soft smile and gentle tone didn't match the settling of dread in Link's stomach.

"… what is it?"

"Humans make far too many mistakes to ever correct them all before we die."

* * *

The beautiful blood staining his skin was wrong – tragedy, heartbreak, destruction and fire and Jahannam boiling over and melting the surface of reality.

But it was life – the feeling of warm blood and torn flesh wasn't new to him anymore.

More and more he found himself hating the color. No matter how beautiful it was… he couldn't help but hate the drops of red.

_"… Furthermore, it is noted that cambion have a predisposition to wicked temperament, but it would be erroneous to mark them all off as evil. They are the same as any other being –always having their own interests at heart. Beyond physical qualities and common traits, Cambion are also noted as having particularly powerful magic, likely owing to their mixed blood…"_

_"__… red eyes and tan skin. Sheikah thirst for blood, but they are not evil. Their need for blood is no different than a hylian's need for breath or the flesh of animals. Despite this, sheikah do not wish to harm hylians… they care for them. _

_See them as brothers."_

Such blasphemy. Who should dare to write such propaganda for the vicious beasts? The devil's kin… surely he was whispering these lies to the world.

It was not something he could ever tolerate. The blade in his hand did not wish to bury itself in the felon's throat, but it must. Those who sin must be punished – lies must be corrected.

So he was hunting down the author to that wretched tome, to make them see the truth.

Sunrise was burning apart the sky – brilliant red washed over the horizon like a lake of blood as he crested the hilltop. Farore, how he hated the color…

The house was lit up in the twilight by screaming souls in lanterns. Surely the devil's kin… soon after he went inside and met fate in the form of a wicked demon's claws.

* * *

"But… there is one of those that I can correct now." He put the half-empty glass back on the nightstand, and turned to face Link completely. Link, thinking it important, rose up from the bed, and was rewarded with a slight nod. "… for everything I've said wrong, and everything I've said to hurt you… I am sorry, Link."

For a moment, all the hylian did was stare at him. Then he opened his mouth to say, so sweetly, "… I still think you're a jerk."

"That's fine." Sheik answered with nary a flinch; his eyes spoke of hurt and acceptance anyway.

Resignation filtered on pale lips in the form of a smile. "And you're a good friend because of it."

"I what?" The older man started, staring at Link like he'd lost his mind. Link grinned an evil grin.

"You heard me."

"Yes, I heard you but I don't understand-"

"Then you've got to figure it out~" He singsonged, dancing toward the door.

"Link!" Link started laughing.

* * *

The weathered yellow pages rustled softly in a wind that wasn't there. Link sighed, stretching.

Soft footsteps made his ears twitch as Kers padded over the grass to sit beside him.

"You'll be abandoning us tomorrow." He murmured conversationally, eyes on the horizon. Link nodded, hands stilling on the book in his lap.

"I… yeah."

"You're a good student." Kers added, sounding absent. He cocked his head, probably at a cloud, but it was hard to tell with the distance he was looking out over.

"Thank you." Link murmured, ears twitching. They were warm at the tips.

A few minutes of contemplative silence on Kers's part and curious stares on Link's later, the fox spoke up again. "What's all this about a bright light, exactly?" Then he waved and added with a glance, "Mister Feather-Boa wasn't clear."

… Link was pretty sure calling the Lord of Death and the Dead 'Mister Feather-Boa' was listed as sacrilegious somewhere. Or it should've been.

Not that Kers would've given a shit.

Link fidgeted with the corner of the page he was on. "… there's something or someone that… that'll- Iblis said it'll kill Sheik, and asked me to protect him. Sheik's my friend, so of course I accepted."

"Of course." Kers echoed, finally giving up the thousand-yard stare for looking at Link. His tails flicked curiously when his eyes fell on the book. "… so what do you think it is?"

"Well, there's this… thing called a shadow caster-" Kers made a noise like he was almost… _amused, _and nodded for Link to keep going, "And I'm not sure about the why's and how's, but it took over Zelda's body. It… it _glowed,_ Kers. I mean, if that's not the brightest thing…"

Kers blinked and wondered aloud exactly what he thought he was looking for. So Link remembered the skull… the way the bright white swallowed up everything, even the shadows of its face. Kers chuckled and looked away again.

"Interesting," He mumbled, just as an achingly familiar voice spoke up.

"The light that swallowed up even death, huh…?" Link turned, eyes wide and bright, to gaze on the too-amused face.

The shadow caster chuckled, rocking back on his heels, terribly casual and wholly disturbing in his appearance. "Well, I guess that _would_ be me, in the strictest sense, but you must be wrong. I can't rip apart shadows." He leant down, smile on his lips and pure white clothes on his body, faintly glowing just like before. A stronger hand than before reached out to pat Link's cheek since he'd frozen – it unfroze him in a manner most swift – and he gave a too-content smile with half-lidded, hellfire eyes. Now he was no longer something in between, but the spitting image of Sheik just beyond the color of his features."Because I belong in them."

Another caress of skin on skin, and then the spectre disappeared as if he'd never been.

Kers chuckled. Link clutched his pounding chest, one hand brushing his cheek where the light being's hand had been.

_What on earth… does that mean…?_

"… so. What do you think now?" Kers wondered, tail twitching.

Of course, Link didn't have a good answer for that.

* * *

"I have something I want to give you," Kers told him later, when they were approaching the Lantern house steps. "Before you leave. I think you'll find it useful." Link sent him an odd look, but Kers only blinked and pulled open the door, snapping his fingers so lights appeared in the darkness of the home. "Would you mind waiting at the table?" He added softly, glancing back with eyes so carefully, carelessly innocent one would never believe the blood and taint that soaked through his very being.

Link nodded, didn't try for a smile as he settled down. The fox disappeared deeper into the house.

Good Goddesses, what could _Kers _want to give him…? He let out an involuntary shudder, and almost screamed when a cold hand touched his back. "Sheik!"

"… aaah, no. I'm sorry?" Clutching his beating heart, he turned to see a young girl he was _certain _hadn't been there when they'd entered, her hand still on his shoulder. She looked like she could be related to Kers, with similar hair and complexion, but her eyes were red, and…

_And… I know her. _Link blinked. But the girl he'd seen had been much… much… younger. Certainly no one could age five years in ten nights?

"I'm Vanth. It's nice to meet you in person, Sir Hero." She smiled and held out a hand to shake. He took her wrist and did, more numb than anything; if she had a dagger he'd never have noticed. She gave him an odd smile for it.

"… in person." He repeated in monotone. Vanth nodded. "You're the girl from the castle."

The wings on her back perked. "Yes. I come in Iblis' stead. He cannot enter this world. I am Vanth of the Otherworld, Sir Hero." A flourish and a bow were ruined in their formality by the childish smile she twisted her face up to send him. "And what may I call you?"

"Just Link is fine. Are you…?" She seemed to understand what he was thinking, but yet unwilling to say.

The girl bounced on her heels. "I'm the one you saw before."

"… how?"

Her smile twisted, but it was still kind. "I tend to change with the phases of the moon. That's okay, right?"

"… Why wouldn't it be?" He wondered, resigned and wry and smiling back. A spaded tail swished happily. "So what did Iblis send you for, Vanth?"

She pulled out the chair across from him and twined her fingers together, elbows on the tabletop. "Mmm… how to put it in hylian…"She puzzled. "The reflection is not opposite, but what will and cannot be?... no, that's not right…" She frowned and wondered and muttered for a few more moments, before Sanguine, passing by and taking pity, called out to her in a tongue Link neither knew nor remembered.

"Cogitandum tibi est inimicus. Lustrare tenebras mundi invenire responsa petis, noli timere sed umbrae." She returned, wings and tail perking.

Sanguine nodded and made an affirmative sound, looking thoughtful. "Iie… 'Your reflection is not the enemy. To find the answers you seek, traverse the corridors and enter the world of darkness. But do not fear your shadows, and face your demons wholly. Only then will you transcend the curse of fate. Oh… but you must be wary. If you meet a man whose name means happiness to one and suffering to another, you should watch yourself and your fellows carefully."

Vanth looked perplexed. "… is that what he said?"

Sanguine smiled a smile full of teeth, and half-lidded eyes were always too satisfied here. "Perhaps in more words." He promised like one spoke of secrets, and Link felt like he was swallowing diamonds when that predatory stare was turned to him.

Like an angel with an axe, Kers ruined it with all the grace of a gerudo thief crashing a party.

"Found it~!" He singsonged, dancing in and thoroughly startling everyone, including Sanguine and the thing in the corner that Link had been convinced was a large stuffed trophy before it leapt up and _yowled_. As for Kers, he was waving around something that looked remarkably akin to a Keaton mask.

"Fuck!" Sanguine yelped, leaping back with all grace and composure out the window. Right now it was hard to believe he could manage to be so threatening as to unnerve Link. Perhaps because he was in a panic? "I thought I destroyed that!"

"You can't destroy it, silly~!" Kers laughed, cuddling the mask to his face like a child. With a sickening croon he added, "It's got part of me inside~." And leered at the draugr. Sanguine remained unamused with unassuaged worries clear in spades.

"I don't want it." Link blurted immediately. The smile on Kers's face didn't change.

"Ah, but you're taking it! How else are you going to find your way through those terrible dark spaces my twit of a baby brother is making you crawl through~?"

Vanth frowned. "He is not a twit."

"He is a twit." Kers told her. Vanth's tail thrashed and she stuck out her tongue.

"… why are you giving Link the mask of Carnage?" Sanguine groaned, breaking the glaring contest as he slumped against the wall like his knees had gone weak. Kers stared at him.

"… oh, come on. Seriously? Doom and Gloom and Ominous Warnings is wondering why I'm giving him a tool? Fuck, Sanguine."

"No, Kers, fuck you." The man muttered back with no vitriol at all, but it was probably the thought that counted. Maybe. He dragged a hand over his face. "And I am not Doom and Gloom."

"I specifically remember-"

"The key to happiness is a bad memory, Kers. The key to sleeping on the couch, however, is a good one." Sanguine warned with ice in his voice. Kers laughed.

"Lighten up. We're heads and tails, right? So if you give the spirit I have to give the body~. You gave him a warning, so I'm giving him a blade. He can handle it fine."

Sanguine looked directly at Link since Kers was cleary nuts. Link could've told him bargaining was useless from the start. "Do not put on the mask. Half its wearers go mad with bloodlust, and the other half die. About a quarter go mad with the regular kind."

_The regular kind of what, exactly? _Link wondered.

Per usual, Kers waved it off like a bad dream. "Don't be dramatic. Kishin wore it fine." And Sanguine looked _scandalized. _

"Kishin is a- _damn it, Kers!_"

Kers waved at him. "Soooo, are you attached to Link or Sheik anyway?... oh don't make that face, it'll stick like that, love." Then he calmly dodged the kettle Sanguine threw at him. "Come on, Sanguine. Farore picked the kid, and much as I don't like her, she's a pretty good judge. He's the proof. Iblis and Vanth like him, too, and he survived my training. He saved Hyrule and made friends with our favorite little self-deprecating ice queen…"

Just then Sheik wandered in, reading a book and only half-paying attention. "Who's a self-deprecating ice queen, now…?" He mumbled, turning a page and not looking up. Kers and Sanguine both grinned.

"Speak of the devil." They crooned as one. Sheik twitched, realized he'd been had, and dropped to grab and refling the kettle. Link and Vanth ducked under the table as maniacal laughter filled the kitchen.

Knees pulled to his chest (they certainly weren't going anywhere) Link frowned at her.

"Always like this here?" He wondered. Vanth nodded.

"I, ah, don't visit often for this reason."

"Ah-huh." They both winced as something connected with the table, and Sheik crowed in victory before the sound of flesh hitting flesh heralded his cut-off.

"… so. Uh. This mask." He held it up. "If I put it on will I go crazy?" He waved the fox mask that Kers had shoved into his hands without his noticing at some point. Kers was apparently a magical fairy.

"If Kers gave it to you and said you won't, you won't. Sanguine's the habitual liar." Vanth said with a teenager's certainty. Her tail flicked near the spade, and Link frowned.

"Fantastic. Now… what's it do?"

Vanth paused. "… no idea." She admitted, and shared an awkward smile with him.

"… well, this is a fine mess…"

And then they almost jumped out of their skins when the sound of crashing heralded a _real_ mess in the form of a flour blizzard, and Sheik trying to smother Kers with the cracked pot. Needless to say it was failing spectacularly

* * *

Apparently draugr were remarkably efficient cleaners. Or, conversely, Sanguine was just a goddamn clean-freak who utilized spells to speed it up, but Link found the first explanation more interesting. He'd fixed up the kitchen after the impromptu sheikah-on-demon-on-zombiefuck free-for-all in what seemed like moments, and Kers calmly went about cooking lunch like nothing had happened, while Sheik shot him suspicious glances while pulling out a chair at the table.

He sent Link a tentative smile after a moment, one Link returned with just an edge of unease. He'd never known Sheik had a throw that _strong_. Vanth seemed to sense his issue (perhaps the constant flickering looks back gave him away?) and carefully nudged the mutilated cast-iron kettle out of his sight. Shouldn't that have busted the wall before the wall busted it…?

"… So." Sheik began in a pleasant tone, placing his book on the table. "I may have a lead. I was in the library talking to Sanguine about it earlier."

Link nodded for him to go on. Sheik touched the book again, and Vanth and Link stared curiously. "This is a book about sheikah culture. It's the original, and the only version left. The other copies were destroyed."

It looked familiar, so Link fished in his pack and pulled out the book Zelda had given him. As it was, they had the same style of writing on the cover. "Like this?"

"Exactly."

"Mmm? Like what?" Kers wandered over, glancing at the books, then made an understanding noise. "Oh. That. Some brat destroyed them."

For a moment Sheik looked startled, then deflated a little. "… you know who did it, Kers?"

Kers made a faint affirmative noise, pouring some tea. "Some young pup. Looked like he came from around here – skin like you or Sanguine's, black hair and eyes. Strange way of talking and disgustingly enamored with some bigot's philosophy." Then, completely unnecessary, "He pissed me off."

"… so we gathered." Vanth mumbled, and Sheik sent her a curious glance for the first time.

"When were the books destroyed?" Link wondered while Vanth and Sheik became acquainted. (_"When did you get here?" "Ah… I came down the bridge from Tot today…"_) Kers grunted. "That? Mmm, well… maybe… seven, eight years ago? Just before Sir Dumbass took over Hyrule."

"Do you have an insulting nickname for everyone?" Sheik wondered in an aside from his current conversation. Kers gave a grim nod.

"Yep. An~y way, moving on."

That sounded good. Link sighed. "So we don't have a lead on Schwarz."

Sheik frowned. "… no."

Vanth slumped over and pillowed her chin in her hands, "Ah… this is depressing. But… maybe you're making it harder than it has to be?" They both sent her strange looks for that.

Kers wandered over and put a plate of sliced fruit on the table, arranged like flower petals around five cups of tea. "Actually, you are. You should've mentioned it was _these _books in the first place." He nodded to them and tapped the cover of Sheik's. "Or maybe just the name. Not that often I have an advocate of light trying to kill me, let alone with a name like 'black darkness'."

"Black what now?" Vanth frowned at him, but Sheik was perking up. Kers nodded.

"Schwarz Efah." He went back to the sink and began washing a glass. "I don't know his true name, but Efah was definitely the surname of his family."

"… that's a sheikah name." Sheik muttered. Black-tipped ears flicked.

"Funny, isn't it? I did a little looking in his mind when he attacked me, seven years ago. Called me an enemy to goodness." The devil sent his reflection in the water a sharp-toothed grin. "Oh, if only he knew…" He shook his head. "Kind of surprised the kid's still alive, though."

"Why?" Link wondered, startled, and Sheik was in full agreement, while Vanth just looked grim. Surely, Ganondorf's reign had been terrible, but if Schwarz was from the badlands…

"I took his eyes. Fucker's blind." Kers told them, then turned around and smiled; teasing, amused, entirely monstrous. "Weeeell… actually, I put a blood seal on his eyes. He can't see in anything brighter than the light of late dusk. So, he's effectively blind. I figured it'd be a fittingly cruel punishment, for someone who's in love with the 'beauty of bright light'. Whether he meant 'that man' or the literal, well…" Kers tutted and shrugged.

Sheik blinked, and sounded somewhere between awed and sad. "… you took away his ability to see in bright light?"

The glass gleamed as the dishtowel ran over it. "I can't believe you'd ask me that again."

"You're a monster." Vanth said, flat, though Link thought he might've read betrayal in her eyes. Kers turned around and lowered the glass with a glare.

"I don't want to hear that from the woman who pulls the threads taut around innocent throats." Whatever that meant, the young maid recoiled as though he'd stuck her. Sheik looked taken aback and Link frowned, opening his mouth to say something, when Vanth mumbled back, broken.

"… you're right." Which really only made him angrier.

"Kers-"

"Hush, Link. I won't hear you defend my accuser when you don't know what she's done." Kers scolded him (something that did nothing to cool his ire). "It's thanks to her you were born to this 'fate', you know. She obeyed that wretch Farore and dragged you back here." And suddenly Kers sounded very tired, putting the glass away and snagging two of the tea cups from the plate on the table.

A frown crossed Link's face. "What do you mean?" While he spoke the fox lingered before the window, yellow eyes seeking out the sky. He swirled his cup gently.

"I mean," Was begun soft, in the tones of one much burdened, "that I don't want to hear it. You were chosen by Hylia, and you were chosen by Farore. You were chosen by Iblis, and you were beaten by War and Carnage. The goddess of fate was sent to guide you to hell. The chains of fate have wrapped their way around you again, Link. And I'm tired of it. I'm tired of watching you go along with all of this. Don't you want to live as a normal man, without these burdens?"

"There's no glory in living a life without misery," Link retorted, smart and foolish. Kers snorted.

"As if you care about glory." He sighed. "Just… Forget about the gods a moment. Forget about your self-imposed burdens, because it's not fair for you to live like this. What do you want, Link?"

"… what I want…"

_Zelda's smile, Sheik's hand on his shoulder, Impa intoning something to a crowd not that he could hear it but oh did it matter in the end? He just wanted to hear those voices rise up warm and kind again… Navi's magic, Saria's smile – oh they were so far away from him now – a warm place that kept his heart from freezing over, a warm hand to keep him from losing his way, the family he'd never met, a life free from the pain and the loss and the suffering, but everything he wanted and cherished seemed to be ripped away, and so he kept running, never growing attached too much to anything. Or so he wished, but he was young and foolish and when he made a friend he kept them, too close to his heart… he didn't want those things to be ripped away from him, but a life free of the loss and pain and hunger was impossible, because he was human, and humans carried bonds like chains and red strings wrapped around their hearts and throats. Precious but painful, and never theirs completely, alone. _

"What I want can wait until I'm finished." Link decided. The fox-man let out a light whine, ears flicking.

"And if you die before then?" He wondered, turning to face Link with serious eyes. Link frowned. Honestly, he was shocked Sheik had kept silent, too…

"I'm not going to die before then."

Kers keened and shook his head, a smile on his lips. "You know, you're more stubborn than the last one. I wonder if meeting Sheik earlier had a hand in that."

Link frowned. "What do you mean by that? And why do you keep saying things like 'again'?"

The fox waved it off, sipping his tea and moving for the door. "Nothing you need to worry about anymore. A new life is a new page, right? I look forward to seeing the rest of your progress, Link."

"… Thanks…" He mumbled, and Kers paused in the doorway and flashed them a grin.

"Oh, one more thing. The goblin brought me a message from our favorite fox the other day for you." This time, his eyes were only for Sheik. "Slipped my mind until now. It mentioned a man in black garb passing him and heading east. Probably for the catacombs. You should talk to him about it." And he left.

Link turned to Sheik, very disturbed and very tired. "… there's another fox."

An odd, pleasantly surprised smile crossed Sheik's face. "Yes. I've been hoping he was well."

* * *

"So, we have next to zero leads. Except maybe – and I stress 'maybe' – this one."

"Yes." Sheik was still smiling as they shouldered their packs to leave. Link frowned.

"I fail to see the good in this."

"And here I thought you were the optimist between us. Tut tut, Link." He waggled his finger, and Link had to resign himself to the smile they both knew was forcing its way up onto his lips. It was nice to see Sheik again in good spirits.

"Right. So who's this fox we're going to meet?"

Sheik grinned. "I will tell you at the gates. I want to keep the suspense a while longer, I'm afraid."

"You suck."

"I do." He said happily, "Very well, I'm told." Then he froze, and looked horrified. Thanks to that Link was completely baffled.

"… what is it?"

"… I didn't mean to say that, that's what." Sheik mumbled, and a gentle cough in the doorway revealed Sanguine (amused), and Vanth (looking scandalized).

"She wanted to come with you two. And you shouldn't leave open the doorway for bedroom talks." Sanguine told them.

And only then did it click for Link. Kind of. Well… he blushed anyway.

Sheik coughed. "Er… how far?"

Vanth coughed as well. "To the hell gate, if you'd please. I… I can fight, if we must."

Link frowned. "We're not going to make you fight."

"Zelda and I were fighting before her age," Sheik interjected, while Sanguine added,

"Just because she's a woman doesn't mean you should protect her." They all kind of paused, then Vanth turned and pouted at Sanguine. Sanguine stared back. "I'm not Sutekh, that look won't work on me." He told her. The pout grew. "… but, you _should_ protect her because she makes such a fantastic messenger, and those are hard to find nowadays." He acquiesced.

"_Aresssss…_" Vanth began in a whining tone, while Sanguine went about ignoring her, and Sheik at once agreed.

Instead of laughing like he wanted – what was this absurdity? Damn lunatics, the whole lot – Link simply made the bed, staring at the Carnage mask and pondering a moment before fastening it to his hip.

By the time he was done making sure everything was set, Sheik and Vanth were ready to go.

"You'll need this," Kers told him, passing him a vial of what looked to be blood when they passed through the kitchen.

* * *

"Take care!" Sanguine called after them, while Kers leaned forward to shout at Sheik.

"Hey! I like this one, so you have to bring him back whole, okay!"

Sheik groaned and ducked his head, completely failing at pretending he didn't hear it.

Minutes passed before a cheerful hum heralded Vanth, coming to skip beside Link. "Kers likes you? That's weird. Usually he just hisses at people. Even me!"

"Hisses?" Link echoed, eyebrows climbing to his hairline. Vanth nodded.

"It's kind of weird, since he's a fox. But Iblis said it's because he swallowed the cloud serpent, so sometimes he acts like one."

"… I don't think food works that way."

"You're talking to a girl with a devil's tail and bat wings and you're worried about food?" Sheik wondered, sounding weary. Link frowned.

"Well…" Though, he could totally buy Kers eating something called a 'cloud serpent'. What on earth was that, anyway? Some kind of weird monster? He'd have to look it up later…

"You can see Tot from here." Sheik's non sequitor was murmured in a thoughtful tone, looking up. Link looked up as well and his eyes went wide. They were crossing a stone and metal bridge spanning a gap between the mountain's two peaks and ahead of them was a great doorway. Above that there were great gaping holes in the earth, and towers rose out of them and into the sky above the setting sun.

"… it's amazing." He mumbled, marking it as his understatement for the year. Vanth and Sheik exchanged wry looks as they approached the gate, but refused to answer Link's confused glances.

Moments passed in musing silence, almost at their destination but unwilling to leave behind the splendid sunset for a journey's end.

"Aren't you cold?" Link wondered, eyeing Vanth's bare shoulders. Vanth blinked.

"Hell is much colder." She told him as they neared the great gate. It was as tall as seven men standing atop each other's shoulders, and perhaps five bodies laid length-wise wide. "And that is where I am going. I must report to Iblis, but there is one thing before I go." She smiled at them both and held out her hands. Link blinked and stared, so she waved them a little until he took them. Sheik merely backed away.

Vanth smiled wider. "You have a kind heart. But don't worry… every being has taint. Just keep hold of whatever binds you to the goodness and you will breathe through it. And… darkness is not evil, so please remember that." She bowed her head and looked ashamed, all of the sudden. "What Kers said about me… is a painful truth, but it is one I will live with. I spun the wheel and wrote the words that drew your spirit back into the world of living after you'd already suffered a hero's tasks. By obeying my Lady, I forced you to live through a second monster's war, and this one as a child. I am ashamed, and I am sorry. But I cannot change the past." She smiled up at him. "Please… Link, break the chains of fate. They're not worth anything to you."

The sun sunk below the horizon, slowly.

"Please don't let the future be one soaked in blood again." She murmured, reaching up to touch his chest. Her fingers flashed and he gasped, wishing to step back and unable. The feeling of feathers surrounding him came into existence, and he heard Iblis's voice echo alongside Vanth's own.

_"You are given the gift to walk in shadow. You will never wander alone._" His chest glowed for just a moment, and then the wings were gone and Vanth was twisting and sinking into the Hell Gate. Her tail slipped out of sight and it was like she never was.

"… what did they do?" Sheik muttered, while Link reached up to brush the amulet.

"… I think they gave me a gift." He mumbled, staring in disbelief as shadows swirled around his fingers. "… or a curse."

Red eyes flashed, then Sheik sighed. "There's nothing we can do about it." He muttered. "Take my hand and step through the portal. Tot lies on the other side."

He frowned. "Vanth said she was going to hell…"

"Ah, but we're not dead yet." Sheik returned softly, and tugged him in.

* * *

_"Link." The vial of red-brown liquid, opaque and swirling, was more disturbing than beautiful. It flashed in the setting sun's light. "This will get you past the gates without a problem. Just give it to the guards."_

It was like stepping through ice-water, but it shifted as a chuchu's flesh. Link shuddered when they emerged on the other side, chilled to the core of his being, and looked around the cavernous realm they'd wandered into. Tall natural ceilings of mountain stone were dotted with openings to the sky and stained glass windows both lined the world above them. Just ahead he could see a massive wall and a second, more typical gate. Beyond it stood a half-shadowed, massive temple-styled city.

They stepped forward until they were about twenty paces from the gates, and then Sheik gave pause. A guard in a gatehouse window on bottom looked at them and shouted something over his shoulder, whilst a harlequin vaulted the wall and scrambled downwards to meet them.

Link fished in his bag for the vial Kers had given him; the clown was wielding a spear with a tip like a fleur-de-lis, and had a domino of black velvet obscuring his face… all in all, he looked somewhere between a performer and a soldier. Something in Link's mind whispered _'demon'._

He came to a gentle halt before them, gold gaze (_ahh, that was probably it_) switching from Sheik to Link and back. Behind him, a barred window slid open. Link held out the vial and at a gesture from the proposed guard, tossed it to him.

The fool of a solider examined it for a moment, before spinning and flinging it at the window, wherein a dark-haired man with strange ears reached out to catch it.

"Come closer." He called to them, almost-bored, before popping open the vial of questionable content. Upon bringing it to his lips (_oh good goddess why, WHY?_) he sniffed it. "Kers sent them." He called to the clown, and took a sip.

Roughly a second later he swore and gagged and threw the arm holding it away from his body, and the clown chuckled while the other guards Link and Sheik could see now glanced up from their stations. "He spiked it!" The black-haired guard exclaimed to the clown. "He fucking spiked his own blood!"

"Perhaps he was trying to self-embalm." The harlequin's first words were offered with a short laugh, and him holding his stomach.

The dark-haired one persisted. "No, no, I mean he poured something in here!"

"What?" The clown wondered, twirling his spear.

The guard ducked, ears dropping a nudge. "Well it tasted like brandy…"

"He added brandy to his blood?" Pretty much everyone asked, at the same time as the presumed captain who only uttered "Alcohol?"

"Yes, sir."

"Give it here."

"… it's his blood, sir."

"Don't care, give it here."

"Just give it to him. You weren't going to drink it anyway, 'Rello." A blond guard with ears like the one at the window advised, and the reluctant guard relented. The captain tossed back the blood like a shot. Sheik and Link looked at eachother just to confirm that yes, they weren't going crazy.

"You've got a problem." 'Rello muttered.

"Kers keeps good liquor." The captain replied unabashedly. His eyes slid to Sheik. "How's that mom of yours?" He added quite casually, a dark-as-ink tail flicking through the air behind him. He was apparently in a much better mood after a drink. At the tail's tip Link noticed there was a very large, very sharp barb. After noticing he promptly decided to stay as far away from this one as he could.

"She's my aunt. And… fine." Sheik muttered, and Link realized he probably was trying to remember the man. The captain smirked as though he had the same thought.

"You were much smaller the last time we met." He mused, before glancing at Link. He didn't question him, though. "Guard entrance is to the side. Farfarello will take you while the rest of my lot stays here, in case you don't remember the way." He ordered, and the dark-haired guard in the window slipped out of it.

Sheik nodded and followed after, and Link trotted behind. Most of the guards had looked like sheikah, and he felt more than one pair of eyes following them curiously. It took a moment to suppress a shudder.

As they moved through the outskirts, Sheik kept looking around – perhaps cataloging what was the same and what had changed – while the guard stayed silent, and Link of course took to watching Sheik. People started appearing when they neared the outskirts of the city – many who looked to be sheikah, Link was stunned to find, with hair of silver and skin like brown earth and eyes every shade of red one might imagine. Mixed amongst those people were paler skinned men and women, some clearly hylians and some toeing the line between features, and some people who milled about had such strange things as devil tails or wings or the ears of beasts. Even Sheik seemed shocked at it all.

"… what's happened to this place…?" He wondered, soft, and the guard chanced a glance back to smile at him.

"It's grown." From the look Sheik gave him back, Link would say that either wasn't all, or he was understating. The guard didn't catch it or ignored it, though. "So, where're you from?" He wondered casually, twirling his own – very utilitarian – spear. Sheik and Link exchanged a glance.

"… Hyrule." They returned as one, and Sheik add almost as an afterthought, "Castletown." The guard glanced back at them. He had a tail like Vanth's, wiggling behind him like a cat's.

"No shit? Huh. How things have changed…~" He chuckled, twisting around to grin at them. "Well then. Either of you ever been to Tot?"

"My aunt brought me a long time ago, and more recently I was here on business. My friend has never been." Sheik said carefully. The guard laughed again.

"Like I said, things have changed. I can't remember the last time I saw a sheikah and hylian walking side by side like you two. Funny thing about war – dividing people brings unity, yeah?"

"Humans can't survive alone." Sheik agreed mildly, eyes slipping shut a moment. "Might I ask where you're from?"

"Hell." The man chirped happily. "I'm a goblin. It's nice to meet you." He waved. "I realize our races have bad blood, but I hope we can be friends."

"… a goblin?" Link wondered, turning back. The man gave an emphatic bounce.

"We're a race of creatures from hell. We're… kind of like what happens when a hylian who feels very guilty or hates themselves, dies." He noticed Link's blank look. "… you know, in hell? We're reincarnated as this, and sometimes we leave, sometimes we are banished, and sometimes we escape." The blank look continued, Link nodding toward Sheik – and Farfarello noticed that Sheik was staring around the streets with something like shocked awe. "… Oh yes! You see, the demons and goblins around here have been fighting with the people of Tot and each other for centuries. But then the seven year war started, and after a while it began to spread even here. All our lives were in danger – so we made peace, between the goblins and the demons and sheikah, and even the hylians. Now the city is growing, and new crafts and forms of art are taking root." He let out an ecstatic noise, spreading his arms to the ceiling. "It's fantastic~…"

"And I imagine you made that sound much simpler than it was." Sheik murmured. Farfarello blinked at him, hands still up.

"Does it really matter how simple or difficult it was, so long as it was done?" He wondered, and then smiled again. "The wars have ended. This is good for you too, yes?"

"… I thought goblins were warmongers." Sheik muttered. The goblin laughed.

"And I thought sheikah had white hair. Name's Farfarello. So how about it?"

"About what?" Sheik wondered.

"Let's be friends." The guard repeated happily. Sheik snorted.

"Don't push it."

"He's lying. You just made him really happy." Link told the now-surprised goblin, and couldn't help a snicker when Sheik punched him.

"… Well, I hope you enjoy your stay." Farfarello added, pausing at the beginning of a bridge. "Please take care… I didn't catch either of your names?"

Link smiled. "Link and Sheik." He answered, pointing to himself and then a very disgruntled sheikah. The surprise on Farfarello's face lasted only a moment.

"… I see… well, hm. Please. Enjoy your stay." He repeated, and took off for the guard post. Link frowned.

"… just now, was he acting strange?"

"No." Sheik sighed, ushering him forward. "He acted strange that whole time. I hope he's not another enemy."

"I'd like to think he isn't."

"The proof is always in the poison."

"You're assuming that's what he'd use, though…"

Sheik smirked at him for that one.

* * *

**Chapter end**

Durhurhurhur. Shadow Caster made a double entendre. 'I belong _in _shadows,' indeed~

It'd make me REALLY happy to get a review after all this. And it encourages me to think about the story, which encourages writing~. And I want to know what everyone thought (I always do)!


	18. The Fox and The Maskless

A note before our beginning this chapter (sorry, so sorry my lovelies I have to have my rant slash apology); it might be hard to believe from my lengthily absences, but I adore my reviewers, and here I'd like to thank them. Besides myself and my friends they're really the ones I write for. I can't really care about the people who read without reviewing because they're numbers on a screen, and I'm straight up annoyed by the one who decided to review only to vent malcontent. Yes, I've been busy. What with, you know, starting college, doing out-of-school events for it, running a group on deviantart, being an artist along with my multiple writing projects, having my internet fucked up several times this year so I couldn't even get ON the net at home, MOVING for the four (or eighth) and hopefully final time, and literally watching the house I was born and raised in be torn to shreds and carted to a dump, along with family members' health problems and financial issues and apparently losing an heirloom or five in the aforementioned house. For a while I was worried we wouldn't have the money to make ends meet on the new place (the old one was literally falling apart with each day). Hell, I'm still worried, because if anything happens that we can't pay for this one we have nowhere to go. I could be worse off, I've got it damn good… but it puts something of a damper on work, all that fuss and worry. I write when I'm inspired and I have time. So while I humbly apologize to those of you who encourage me every chapter with your kind words and interesting theories (and I can list quite a few of you now, thanks guys :3), I can't really bring myself to regret or apologize over someone who only pipes up to complain. Really, a 'hey, what's up' would have sufficed, instead of the rather visceral and… aggressive word choices made, when we'd never before exchanged a word. You know who you are, sweetie.

Now then… Please enjoy the chapter (and that's for everyone)! And thanks to all reviewers!

**Chapter 18: The Fox and the Maskless (Cunning and Spite) **

Today was the baptismal day of a child who'd never been allowed to make it. His memories of it stood out in startling clarity, in some parts, yet a frustrating haze clung to others. He couldn't see their faces anymore. He could still hear the screams and feel the firebrands. Link… such a funny name for the hero to have. After all, that had been what the last hero was named, wasn't that so…? She'd wanted to name her son that...

The last hero wasn't important to him, though. The last hero was not one whom he'd ever known – one thousand years was certainly more than a human could live. No… Hell's fingers lingered on the windowpane, remembering. It seemed so long ago now… eighteen years almost seemed like a lifetime. No… it was more than that, now…

Eighteen years ago… a life was ended.

* * *

The bells of the shrine chimed softly. Amber eyes of a noble demon watched from the shadows as the children walked with soft steps over the night-dark floors of its home and dominion. The soft touch of feathers against its back soothed it as they kneeled before the shrine, and from the paler child's flesh it scented its child the fox, and the brave girl that held her blade to Nightmare. Its fur lay flat along its back, its tail flicked, and it watched.

The blind god stroked its mane, murmured against its ear soothing things, and he saw the pale child twitch. The other one's scent drifted to them on a lazy wind the demon must have helped along, because what breeze was there in a building? And it smelled of death and darkness and _home… _

The demon's struggle to remember itself went unnoticed by the children, and it once more forced its mind into focus. Above the most powerful scents – sweat, blood, power, hylian, sheikah – it caught the odor of Spite's keeper on the child, and the lingering smell of one it hadn't seen or scented in one thousand years.

The demon leaned forward on its claws. Interesting.

The blind god chuckled in its ear.

* * *

Statues and reliefs of cats (most especially great spotted beasts) lined the shrine, elegant and witty and wholly beautiful, as well as watching. Link felt as though they might at any moment leap.

Sheik's smile was nostalgic, fingers trailing the writing scrawled below the images. He hummed a little hymn, sung softly to the cats as he traced their faces, and gazed fondly around the top of the temple at the softly swaying bells. They glimmered like far-off starlight.

Link was reverent in his silence. This was a temple undesecrated… free of malice or monsters.

Beautiful.

His voice was soft as they knelt before the statue at the altar. "Do you remember this place?"

Sheik's laugh was just as soft, eyes trained on the floor. "I've never been here before." He traced the rune on the base left-side base of the altar. The statue's eyes glowed.

Link stared at the stairs that appeared in the stygian gloom and beauty.

Sheik followed them as if he'd known nothing else in his life.

What they stepped into reminded Link terribly of Kakariko, with a bit of Tot's grandeur thrown in if he really looked… it was somber and dark… a crypt.

Link knew this place…

There, at the end was a doorway…

With a statue above it. Link couldn't really understand what he was seeing, beyond that it was a guardian, for the bright red gem it held. He knew… he'd dreamt of this place and his fingers were tugging out the amulet.

Sheik's look was strange and blissful as the door opened.

* * *

The demon dropped to the floor soundlessly and greeted the children. The blind god smiled and landed with a soft beat of black wings.

"One thousand years since either of you have shown your faces… it's a rather long time, don't you think?"

Wondering blue and red gazed on them.

"That idiot student didn't tell you…" The demon grumbled, tail coiling around them like a soft snake as it circled, sinuous muscle shifting beautifully under the black shimmering coat of darkness and fur, no longer half-there but whole and full, everything breathing life even in the midst of a dark and gloomy tomb...

"That's no longer important, Bel…" The blind one chastised, sitting on the coffin edge and smiling down at the children. "In this moment they're here."

The black wings of an angel flickered in the fairylight.

* * *

"Who are you-?"

"Just the welcoming committee." The man with blond hair and black wings crooned.

"To make sure you don't fuck up." The demon promised.

Link exchanged a nervous smile for Sheik's revering one.

* * *

After arriving for a second time in Tot from the temple leading into Beneath, after their brief meeting with the Guardian god of the mountain and the graceful blind one who'd only smiled and called himself a messanger, night was falling like fire in a meteor shower… and it was a long walk up to the place they'd be staying. The center temple had a bridge leading out to the Aminbahadur quarters, so they'd made their way to the center of the city and then up. And up, and up, and up… when they came out onto the bridge, Link's eyebrows about hit his hairline. That was a _long _way down… and when he looked up, he found they weren't even a third of the way to the ceiling.

He whistled. "Hell of a place they have here. How come I've never heard of it?"

"Outsiders aren't allowed in often." Sheik told him without looking back, fingers trailing on the railing as though it were a delicate thing, not made of stone. A smile curved his lips, half-bitter. "You know… the last time I was back here, it was to move Zelda. Before that it was the beginning of the war."

"Yeah?" Link blinked and walked faster, so they were side by side. The bridge was scarcely populated, unlike the city pulsing below them. It seemed the residents of Tot preferred moonlight to fulfill their tasks. When he brought that up, Sheik sent him a secret grin.

"Well… they are like me, you know." He murmured, fingers flickering on the rail. "Or maybe I should say like… Impa."

"I thought you said you were the last of the sheikah, when we met?" Link pointed out. Sheik laughed.

It was a painful thing. "Oh, I am." He assured. "Sheikah are guardians of the royal family. These people are bound to no one. As it stands now… I will be the last one." His eye shut. Link frowned.

"… why?"

"Because the kingdom no longer trusts us."

* * *

Once upon a time, there was a beautiful woman, with flesh pale as ivory, hair like spun straw and gold and eyes shimmering blue. She lived in a bright, bright world far away.

She was born to a noble house and married into another, and there she cared for the child of a duke, and she thought him a fine boy. When she was with child she would let him touch her belly and whisper to it kindly, and she would brush his hair and teach him to play the sitar when his body was too weak for training. And she would smile at the little boy who followed the duke's son with soft brown eyes and silent footsteps, and coax him to play along with them.

She lived a lovely life. Sad, that it could never hope to last.

Across the land, far from her place of light and flourishing life, there was another lady, and she too was beautiful, but they were far from the same sort of lovely. She was slight as a sylph and just as sly, with hair white as spun silk and skin like the canyons of the badlands, and her eyes were the reddest red from sunsets and rubies stained with blood. This woman was born in the darkness but walked in between, the chiaroscurio of existences always placed at her dainty feet. She was born into the barren wilderness, with its sad and strange, graceful beauty, and some part of it buried itself into her skin always.

Once, she went and met a king, and he fell so terribly in love with her, and she with him, that they broke an even more terrible taboo.

Now, while the dark lady and the light king had their torrid and sordid trysts between the worlds of right and wrong, desire and morality, the pale-skinned lady found herself in a terrible place. A wicked king with hair like fire and skin touched green was rising into power in the desert beyond her home, and some wicked darkness had come stealing away for her – for something she had deprived that wicked king.

But the wards of light protected their place, and the demons were sent scurrying away. She was safe, but the dark king wily. He soon found a way about those good-intentioned wards.

He was close with a pair of witches with some magics in the works, for illusions and controlling the minds and hearts of others. So he fashioned together some talismans and spells, and in the desert laid a trap most terrible, for the caravan of pilgrims he knew would be passing through.

Once caught in his web the poor things never stood a chance – their hearts were strong, but their backs would soon be broken by tricks and suffering.

Still unaware of the evils wrought in the south of the lands, the light king and the dark lady laid together, and for once they were contented. But, there was a certain rule, and it soon seemed the lady had broken it on the floor like the decanter she had carried when they had first come together.

'They' didn't know until she began to show, but by then it was too late. Once the babe was born, his mother was sent from the land by her own blood and council, for she had committed a grave sin to bear the child of the one she should be protecting. It compromised her, and so she knew she had to leave.

Back in the world of brightness and hot desert sand, the wicked king's fresh puppets snuck into the land, and in the space of a night slaughtered half a house of nobles. The sons and fathers they left, but the daughters were made dead by morning. All except one, who escaped on horseback with the selfsame banished dark lady, sent to protect the nobles with a child on the way…

They ran for the forest, their horse whipped raw and tired, demons biting at their tails, and just before the entrance their steed struck down. The light one kept running, tears on her face, babe in her arms and crying and bloody, and the dark one stood in the forest and dared the demons to try and go on.

She ripped them apart and was soaked in blood by the next dawn.

But to her great sadness, the forest had already ravaged the chosen one of the hero's spirit.

A squalling baby left beneath a wise guadian who would hide it from the war on the verge of breaking out… that was neither here nor there. She only wished she hadn't failed her charge… only wished she could, at least, see her son curled up one last time. Of course, she hadn't been allowed to see her son in too long already.

She collapsed to her knees on the edge of the forest, starved and exhausted and beaten and suddenly far too tired. She drew her last breath imaging red eyes in an innocent face, and a soft hand reaching up to pat her cheek.

* * *

Red eyes.

Zelda cocked her head, just barely. Red eyes. Those certainly weren't common. Neither was blue hair, though.

All of this, of course, had to do with the guest of the castle now standing before her, bearing both the symbol of the sheikah and Tot's crest.

"Yes? May I help you?" She inquired politely. The man shook his head (just a bit) and bowed.

"My apologies." _I was just picturing a taller queen, _Zelda could practically hear him thinking. "For a moment I was stunned by your Grace's youthful face-" Zelda, well-aware of how well telling him 'cut the bullshit' would go over with her very own team of stuffy advisors _right there _would go, merely tuned out the excuse-making and focused on looking him over instead. A strong body, clad in travel clothes (no surprise there), with visible stitches done in thick thread. A cursory glance at his hands showed nails with dirt caked under them (no doubt from the journey), calluses on the palms and fingertips, and skin paler than she'd expect of someone obviously used to hard work, but darker than hers or Link's. The faint accent he spoke with suggested he hailed from farther north. There was a mask tied over his face, sadly leaving that unread sans his gaze… and even then it was obscuring all but the color of his irises, shining out from the slit eyes of a golden fox. The mask had been popular when she was a child. It was… Keaton, wasn't it?

Huh. He couldn't have been from _that_ far north. And she hadn't seen that mask in years… but, damn, she could've sworn she'd seen the face somewhere else recently…

"… from the Badlands." She tuned back in to hear him finishing.

… _Badlands?_

"I sent a letter." The young man in the mask added, and Zelda narrowed her eyes.

_A letter? I haven't- _a pile of papers flashed through her mind, pressed aside on the clutter her desk to make room for a cheerful Twili queen… _oh. _She flushed. _Now_ remembered where she had seen the face… on an envelope on her desk, left unopened after Midna took her out to the archery range that day…

"I am so, so sorry." She uttered, feeling her cheeks flame red as she bowed. She saw him shift. "I… ah, something came up, and it just slipped my mind…" When she chanced a glance up, he had removed the mask to stare at her with a quizzical expression.

"… It's fine." He answered slowly, sounding like he couldn't understand her embarrassment. His eyes were red, she noticed again. _A sheikah?_

Well then. "I really do apologize." She murmured cheeks flushed while she curtseyed. The man stared. "Now, what is it that you came to talk to me about?"

The man stared for another moment, before shaking his head in resignation and murmuring something in a language she didn't recognize before speaking again to her in Hylian. "Right. I came from Tot with news about the King's death."

Zelda froze.

In fact, the whole room seemed to.

… _what? No, no, father was… the king was…_

"… come with me." She managed, mechanical, throat dry. The man's eyes narrowed and he nodded.

"Of course." He bowed his head and fell in step behind her. Zelda hurried down the corridor, ignoring the protests of her advisors not with deft skill and practice (of which she had much) but a terrible, nagging sense of 'something is not right'.

The disturbing notion that someone had told a lie echoed in her mind. It was a big one.

* * *

"What do you mean, he's not here?" Sheik groaned, leaning on the doorway and thinking that it was _far too early_ to be awake, let alone for bad news. The former sheikah in the doorway bowed.

"I'm very sorry to say he left for the castle a few days ago, along with 'Maskless'." His nose wrinkled at the obviously false name. Sheik might agree if he wasn't dreading continued consciousness.

"… so when is he likely to return?" He muttered, sighing his resignation and leaning his head on the doorframe.

"It seems unlikely he has arrived yet, but I will be certain to bring news when he does and when he leaves." His guest replied shortly. Sheik frowned.

"How are you… you know what, whatever. Thank you, Sir Owlan. Really, I appreciate you taking your time to tell me at…" He paused at stare at the light shining down from holes in the mountain a moment, half-calculating and half in plain confusion. "… five AM sharp. Really." Owlan's lips twitched.

"You know, sarcasm is unbecoming of a Duchess."He drawled. Sheik snorted.

"Oh, didn't you hear? She's dead." He straightened up and grabbed the door. "Have a good day, Sir Owlan."

"Thank you. In the future, shall I not make my appointments with you 'as early as humanly possible'?" He chuckled. Sheik nodded.

"_Please._" And the door shut. Thoroughly spent, he stumbled back to his nice dark room to sleep. The bed grunted at him as he curled up on it. Oh wait; this was Link's nice dark room. Oh well.

_Sleepy sleepy sleep…_

* * *

A bird chattered from high above their heads. It was a sound she faintly recognized… a violet warbler. An import for the garden, no doubt.

The man was watching her with eyes that reminded of someone she faintly remembered from the beginning of the war, though the eyes she was remembering were amber…

"What do you know about my father's death?" She demanded. The man, now free of scrutiny from the nobility and court officials, took his time observing her, shoulders relaxing slightly. She stared back, desperation masked with pleading and defiance painted open on her face.

Wearily, the man spoke again, just as they felt the world ripple around them and change, like drops oil in the surface of a puddle. "He didn't tell you, did he?"

_Sheik, _Zelda thought, because who else could he mean? _Sheik… what didn't you…?_

"Lady Hyrule, your father was murdered."

* * *

… that… 'statement' went over about as well as could be expected, really. He tried not to laugh out his derision.

_If it hadn't been, _he reflected, _for Majora's warped timing, we might have a concussed Queen on our hands. _Ooooh, Sheik would have had his head over _that._

Majora lifted the girl with all the effort he would have expected (virtually none), toting her over to a garden bench to lay out. He took his time arranging her, giggling softly and placing some flowers in her hair before straightening up and flouncing back over.

"Dead, dead, dead~ if I didn't know any better I'd say she was _dead!_" The spirit cackled, grabbing him by the arm and twirling them around the few times. He bore it with a stoicism rarely seen outside of statues, and only glared deadpan when he was released.

"Are you quite finished?" He inquired. Majora merely giggled like the ice in his voice made for a refreshing breeze. Hell, maybe for him it did.

"For now." He laughed, voice going deeper as his body began to calm. Once the twitches were completely gone from his frame, he canted his head toward Zelda. A young man's baritone spilled out from behind the mask. "… that's the one. The one you said they wanted to protect so badly?"

"Don't touch her, Majora." He warned. Majora tipped his mask back just enough to give him history's least-assuring smile.

"I would never _dream _of it, beloved keeper," He crooned, reaching down to brush the back of a wicked claw over her cheek. "After all… it would cause the one running much more anguish if she was kept alive." He chuckled. "And, of course, I would never want to make you so mad you wouldn't forgive me. I mean, I'd never get out of _that _alive~!"

"And wouldn't it just be a shame if Kers never got to see his 'adorable baby brother' again." He deadpanned. Majora completely deflated and sent him a glare over one shoulder. The young man's voice returned to sulk,

"Shut up."

Zelda groaned and twitched. He shushed the spirit.

"She's waking." He moved a step closer. "Miss? Miss, are you alright…?"

* * *

There was something decidedly odd about her recent passing out. Specifically, that she was damn sure she'd inhaled something to cause it. Also, that she'd been alone with someone she didn't even know the name of when it occurred. A man with a mask…

The man with a _fox_ mask. And he was leaning over her with a calculating expression.

_Clang!_

Zelda nearly stabbed him in the throat.

Nearly, because now black wicked metal claws were obscuring all but the red eyes turned wide in shock, and a face with dark skin, paint and bandages was growling down at her. The talons holding her blade were his _fingers_.

"_Mine, girl, __**mine!**_" He snarled, and Zelda grimaced when it looked like he'd turn those claws on her - then the red eyes of the third in Tragedy's trio narrowed in irritation.

"Knock it off, both of you!" He snarled, at once batting away the wickedly sharp fingers and Zelda's hand as she went for another blade. He gave them both a furious look. "Are we quite finished with our threats?" Then, without waiting for an answer beyond incredulous stares, announced "Good!" Then he turned to Zelda, and with a rushed irritation went on with formality. "I'm sorry to have frightened you, my friend used a dark portal and it must have leaked some fog. The fog causes light beings to lose consciousness but really he didn't mean anything by it, he's just an idiot. We're here to help you so for the love of the Moon _don't try to stab us again._ Thank you, Lady Zelda, and may I say you remind me _painfully _of your brother!"

"… you know Sheik?" she put forward with doubt. The man groaned and pushed his hair out of his face.

"My dear lady, I _babied _Sheik." He grumbled, and held out a hand.

_Babied… Sheik? Someone who…_"Shall we start this again?" Zelda wondered. The man sighed and smiled, relieved that she _got it._

"Yes. Please."

"Alright. My name is Zelda. You're the fox from the letter?"

He smiled and nodded to his associate. "And Maskless."

As though to spite that, the man pulled a colorful heart with spikes on the sides and top down to cover his face.

"Majora." He rumbled and giggled, taking Zelda's hand next (_how will he kiss the back?... oh_) to _nuzzle_ it. "It's a pleasure to meet you, _princess_." He rolled the word about with glee, and she bit her tongue on the correction that she was a _queen. _Something about this one made her feel as though she were a kitten before an idle beast. Intuition said it was not ready to attack her just yet, however.

So Zelda nodded. "Alright. Now, what were you saying about my father's murder?"

Kafei and Majora exchanged a look, one serious and the other smirking.

* * *

"… What are we going to do until the person you're looking for gets back, exactly?" Link wondered with a resigned and tired look, after Sheik had enlightened him.

Sheik gave a soft smile. "Rest and reconnaissance, my dear he… Link." He corrected.

Pale lips twitched. "Rest and recon." Link repeated amiably, eyes shutting. "Sounds like a vacation to me."

Sheik chuckled. "As I recall, you prefer knocking out your foes to sneaking about them."

"You think this will be like the Gerudo fortress?" Blue focused on red.

"No… just taking our different tastes and styles into account while planning the scouting trip."

"Smart." Was the compliment, that Sheik of course couldn't take lying down,

"Rational."

They got up to leave the house. Link cast a glance back at the building as they crossed the bridge out. "So… This place used to have your family inside?"

"Mm. Impa said that the first sheikah left his own blood in the foundation… along with his memories of the hero and the 'monster'."

"What?" Link sent him a strange look. "If there was a hero, then why did he have to fight…?"

Sheik's lips twisted. "I don't know. Most of what we know of him is lost to time… even though the story says he left his memories in Tot, it all seems like a fairytale. No one has found them since he disappeared."

"You mean… died?"

A soft chuckle. "No. He came from Before…" A short breath, "So one day he was simply 'gone'."

* * *

The sharp staccato of nails against a blade was quickly driving him to madness. "Will you _quit?!_" He snapped at his underclassman.

The man sent him an innocent grin as if to say 'what? I didn't do it.'

Yes you fucking did, Ezio.

Altaïr was saved from snarling this aloud by the door opening to admit a blond lady.

"I'm looking for the fox."

"La Volpe is-"

"Other fox." She corrected quickly, red eyes glaring a hole in Ezio. He smiled.

She took this moment to stalk over to Altaïr instead. "Where is he?"

Altaïr frowned down at her. Now why did that enraged look seem so familiar…?

"The fox is on other business at the moment." _And if I tell you where he is not only will I be breaking our Creed of silence and discretion, he'll beat me senseless._

A hylian, looking rather out of place in a sheikah mantle, slipped in the door and over to the enraged woman with quick steps.

"This place has a scary guard." He muttered, rubbing his forehead, which had a very suspicious red imprint on it. It looked as though it read something in Sheikah but the letters were… blurred… Altaïr paused. Did that say 'Novice'?

The woman let out a derisive huff, blowing it from between her lips like an ill-mannered commoner. "Pfft. Malik's a puppy." She then turned to start rubbing the mark off the hylian's forehead.

Altaïr snapped his fingers as the outsider whined. "Sheik."

"Yes?" The woman who-was-not sent him an amused look. "I'm shocked you remembered."

"… I'm not _that bad…_" He coughed and went on. "Alright. Well. The fox is in central Hyrule. The man you're _actually_ looking for is somewhere in the Catacombs."

"Goddamn it."

* * *

"I don't like the word 'Catacombs'…"

"I like that you don't like the word Catacombs, but we really don't have a choice in the matter…"

"Why _would_ he be down here?"

"I have no idea. He must have balls the size of boulders to try, though… stop giggling, Link…"

"Sorry, just never thought I'd… pfft…" A few more laughs, "Get to hear you say that…"

A sigh and lilting reminder, "We're _going_…"

"Right. Sorry." Giggle.

Ezio stared blankly into the dark. "… why do outsiders get all the pretty ones?"

"He's a man, Ezio."

"You think I care?"

"He's also the fox's little brother."

"… hm. My desire seems to have hidden somewhere behind my kidneys. Mio Dio…"

"Good boy."

* * *

**end chapter**


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